A-Z of Soft Skills: D is for Dedication

 Dedication is the quality of being committed to a task or purpose. When I dedicate myself to something, I make it understood that I am willing to put in a lot of my time and energy to it. When I dedicate myself to someone, I express my strong support for or loyalty to that person.

The quality or state of being dedicated conveys my single-minded application, faithfulness, sincerity and diligence to a thing or person or cause. 

Why is dedication such a desired soft skill? Kenneth Blanchard, management guru and author of The One Minute Manager talks about commitment thus:

"There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results."

Dedication is commitment, only more. It is the highest degree of commitment you can have to something. It is doing something in the most focused way you can, giving it your best effort, your most time, without any let up and without any expectations of returns.

Dedication brings discipline. It makes you work harder. It won't let you quit.

We often look at artists, musicians, sportspeople, actors and iconic entrepreneurs and marvel at their talents. We envy them their fans and the fantastic personal heights and economic successes they achieve. 

What we fail to acknowledge is the mental strength, the never-give-up attitude, the fortitude, the sacrifices, the discipline and total dedication required in addition to talent for any measure of success in any field.

Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar may have been gifted, but without their undying dedication, they would not be legends. Today, Virat Kohli's name would not be spoken in the same breath as that of his hero Sachin Tendulkar if, as a 19 year old, he had not shown the dedication of coming in to bat on the morning after his father died.

The story goes that Virat Kohli got the news that his father had passed away at three in the morning before the 3rd day of the 2006 Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Delhi. Delhi were 14 for 3 in answer to Karnataka's massive 446 when Virat went into bat on Day 2. Virat was just playing his 4th match for Delhi. He was on 40 runs by the end of the day with Delhi 59 for 5. 

Virat was not expected to come in to bat that morning, but he did. He played 238 balls and made a score of 90 runs before he went home for his father's cremation. 

That dedication is why Virat Kohli is the next Sachin Tendulkar and why Sachin Tendulkar was the next Sunil Gavaskar.