Management self-help guru, Shiv Khera, is an educator, business consultant and a much sought-after speaker. His clients include Lufthansa, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Nestle, Glaxo SmithKline Beecham, Tetrapak, Sanofi Torrent, Phillips, Gillette, Daimler Chrysler, HSBC Bank, Carrier, Deutsche Bank and General Motors. He is also the author of the International Best Seller books, You Can Win and Living with Honour. Over 20,000 people have attended his three-day dynamic workshops internationally. Khera will be in Kathmandu next week to conduct a series of training sessions with Nepali executives and managers. Nepali Times conducts a curtain-raiser interview with him.

Nepali Times: Tell us about your life so far.
Shiv Khera: My formal education stopped with B Com (Hons) at Delhi University. When coal mines in India were nationalised, we were literally on the streets. I went to Canada and started a new life, beginning with washing cars, then moving on to selling vacuum cleaners and life insurance.

What inspired you to take up teaching management?
I once attended a program by Norman Vincent Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking. From Peale, I learnt that problems are a sign of life. We cannot solve all our problems, but with positive attitudes we can handle them. Selling life insurance taught me the quality of persistence, which helps people get back to their feet after setbacks.

Most of us know all this, but can't seem to implement them.
That's the most important thing I have learnt. Unless the success principles are put into practice, knowing them alone does not help. When I started applying what I learnt from people like Peale, I saw my life changed. I realised it was time to give back to society. I started volunteering my time in maximum security prison in the US and saw lives changing. Thereafter, I took my program to the corporate world and wrote my book You can Win which has sold 1.2 million copies in 11 languages.

To what do you attribute that phenomenal success?
Corporate Executives all over the world are drawn to motivational programs because like our body needs food every day, our mind also needs positive thoughts to stay motivated. Just like what happens when we suffer from bad food or malnutrition, we became physically sick. Similarly, if we don't feed our mind with positive thoughts, negative thoughts automatically enter and we become mentally sick. Hence, optimistic thoughts on a daily basis are food for the mind to remain motivated.

Yet not everyone can be a winner.
There is a big difference between winning and being a winner. Winning is an event in life, whereas being a winner is about the spirit. Winning can become habitual to those who develop positive habits in life. In the same way, there is a big difference between selfishness and self-interest. Selfishness is for me to win while others have to lose. Whereas self-interest is for me to win, but the world does not have to lose. We can all win together.

So the proof of the pudding is in the eating?
Exactly. The best prescription from the best doctor is useless unless it is acted upon. Similarly, knowing the principle of success is not enough, but putting it into practice will truly materialise it.

Do you have different advice for Nepal?
Nepali executives are no different than those in other countries. I have worked in 15 to 20 countries and found that human and emotional needs are identical. Integrity and cheating have the same meaning in New York, New Delhi and New Zealand. Somehow, right from my childhood I have had a close affinity to Nepal. I have always admired certain great traits of the Nepalis, such as their bravery, loyalty and their ability to overcome adversity. So I am looking forward to visiting Nepal and hoping to see it as one of the top nations of the world with foundations built upon integrity, respect and responsibility.

This program is organized by Lifevision International Private Limited, Indreni Complex, New Baneswor. For further details, contact 4423321, 5534354, 6208888, 4386390.

Official sponsor Civil Homes, official media