So True. Words without action are of no use. There would be countless incidents around us where there are only words but no action. But a recent incident made me ponder over it in today’s context.

One of my old friends met me few days back. He was in a sombre mood, slightly philosophical and wanted a shoulder to share his agony with. What can be better than a chance meeting with an old friend, who understood him well, was his well-wisher and had no axe to grind. As we sipped our beer he slowly opened up. Annual appraisals at his work place had got over and just like some of the previous years, though he had done his job well and achieved all his targets, not only he was not rated well but the same numbers were actually used by his immediate supervisor to get a promotion. I had known him for years, many of which we had spent working together. I knew his sincerity towards his work and his ability to deliver results was impeccable. But I also knew that this guy genuinely believed in the above adage – “actions speak louder than words”. He continued to work hard and continued to deliver excellent results year after year believing that actions and results will speak louder than words. So long as he had bosses who were supportive and appreciative of his work he continued to grow. Under the cover of a benign umbrella he flourished. Few years after we parted ways he started getting bosses who understood his talent and ability but felt insecure themselves. So they ensured that while he continued to work hard without opening his mouth, it is they who really got benefited.

While I was patiently listening to my friend and understanding his situation, I was thinking of the days when I was passing through the similar situation and sharing my agony with another friend and older acquaintance of mine. This friend of mine immediately told me that “Sanjay, this is the time of advertising. You have to blow your own trumpet. If you don’t do this for yourself who else would do it for you? If you don’t speak out people will come in your life, use you, trample over you and move ahead. People will remain the same, only faces will change”. How prophetic he was. I also faced similar situation for quite some time and then changed. Slowly, my belief that “actions alone are not sufficient” has only got stronger.

But our beer was not yet over and neither were the pent up feelings of my friend. We were quite engrossed in our discussions and the beer and snacks continued. After this part of our discussions got over he started speaking about the situation at his home. The sincerity of a sincere man reflected everywhere, including in his personal life. We had become family friends and I had seen him with his wife many times. They both made an ideal sort of couple. He had maintained a reasonably good work life balance and the life was quite stable there. But soon his wife’s younger sister got married. Her husband was a flamboyant man working in the marketing function of a multinational company. He used to dress up well and spoke well. He had great skill in making his wife believe that he is the best husband. He would occasionally take her out for dinners, but in style, ensuring right combination of perfumes, flowers, candle light, dresses and small things like opening the car door for her, a slight bow at the right time etc. This occasional outing, small gifts given in style, some mushy messages on mobile ensured that he devoted long hours at work, spent little time at home, in house-hold chores and shared responsibilities. But the biggest surprise was even then he was the best husband not only for his own wife but also the wife of my friend. This poor guy was as usual sincere, came home well in time, shared responsibilities, went out for dinners and gave gifts also, in effect everything that the other did and much more but still got classified as a poor husband who didn’t know how to please his wife. Once again he lost out just because he ‘sincerely’ believed in the adage “actions speak louder than words”.

This story that I’ve narrated above is not an isolated case. There are numerous instances happening around us where the actions of a man are either not recognized, unless spoken about, or someone else takes the credit for those actions. I’ll give an example with which many people can connect even now. In the year 1991 Indian economy was in a very bad shape. There was no money to import our requirements for more than eight days. Then suddenly a renowned academician and economist, Dr. Manmohan Singh, became the Finance Minister. Prime Minister then was Mr. Narasimha Rao. Some hard steps needed be taken to bring the country back from brink. So the journey started by pledging the country’s gold and tightening the screws of our economy. Whatever we are today as an economy, significant credit goes to the steps that were taken at that time. Even today most people credit Dr. Singh for the reforms that were undertaken then. Indeed, there’s an element of truth in that. Action was there for all to see. But what is not seen is that the series of steps that were taken by Dr. Singh were identified by his predecessor who was unable to implement them because of lack of political support and in any case his government didn’t last long enough. Eventually, new government was sworn-in, once again a minority government, who implemented all these reforms. The strength and courage to implement them was not of Dr. Singh but his boss, the Prime Minister, Mr. Narasimha Rao. While the action was taken by someone who received the glory, real architect was somebody else and the decision maker was a third person. In this case actions have indeed spoken louder than words, but we can’t forget that the real strong man decided not to speak up and allowed the credit to be taken by somebody else.

Something similar happened in a very large corporate house in India few years ago. It was going through very tough times. To survive some drastic measures had to be taken and that also over a long period of time. Since it was a large organization there was no choice regarding the matter of survival. For the well-being of country it had to survive and prosper. Fortunately it had a visionary Chairman at the helm of the affairs. He had drawn out an action plan which if implemented would ensure this. He had to find out a man who could give shape to his vision in the interest of the society. He could do that and as they say “rest is all history”. This organization is a well-known name not only in India but globally. The man who implemented the action plan is also a well-known figure. But the man who had planned the turn around, found someone to implement it and ensured it was put into action by giving behind the scene support, is known only in a select group of people. Once again, though the action has spoken very loudly, the person who chose to remain silent didn’t get his rightful due in the eyes of people. May be it was deliberate, just like in the previous story, lack of spoken word ensured that the glory was bestowed to the actor not the director.

Let us for a moment return to the conversation that I was having with my friend. After he had narrated his story he was feeling much lighter. The beer that we had had was also having its effect. Towards the end he asked for my opinion and advise. There was precious little I could do to resolve his situation. But I did speak and gave him some strength and courage to face the situation. I also told him that he should learn to “blow his own trumpet”. If he didn’t do that he would not only keep losing, his contribution and importance would be realized by others around him only when he is no longer with them. To get his rightful place his words were as important as his actions. But looking from a distance, did I do anything? Was there any action taken by me in this case? I only spoke few words and they had miraculous effect on my friend. Limited point that I’m making here is that few words spoken at the right time will have far greater impact than any action in that situation.

Now I’m thinking of another situation. In this situation, let us say in an organization, an important assignment has to be accomplished where there is involvement of a large number of people. Not only that, some measures have to be taken which will result in temporary discomfort to people. A situation where action is taken without taking people in confidence may result in backlash putting the entire project in jeopardy. In this situation it becomes absolutely essential that words precede any action and key people are taken in confidence, they are co-opted in the assignment and whose job then becomes to carry rest of the team with them for the success of this project. In this case a combination of words and actions is the key. Neither words alone will be sufficient not the action.

The other day I was reading in the newspaper where the Foreign Minister of Pakistan had said something against the understanding that was arrived between our two countries jointly. When our Foreign secretary was asked about it he had a simple answer – “we will judge them by their actions on the understanding arrived with us and not on the basis of what they say”. The focus here is clearly on the action and not on the words at all.

Whenever there are leaders and followers, words become very important. In fact sometime, words are far more important than the action. We have seen leaders who have managed to harness the energy of a large mass of people only by words to achieve their objectives. We have also seen leaders who have done a lot but forgot to speak with people, forgot to communicate with them and carry them along eventually to lose out.

My Little Thought Of Life in this context is that while generally the adage “actions speak louder than words” holds true in the sense that we should promise only what can do or our actual conduct is more important than what we say, there are many nuances to it. First of all this adage doesn’t hold true for all situations. It is the combination of words and actions that determines the outcome. Sometimes only action is warranted, sometime only words and sometime a right combination of the two. In the age of information and advertising, words and communication play disproportionately large role in our lives. Only a person who can master the art of playing with words, proper communication and ensuring right action is going to be the winner.

To my readers and friends I wish an ability to choose the right combination of words and actions depending on the situation to emerge winners in life.