Dominate Asia - The Importance of Language in Culture

 I cringed when I saw the slogan advertising the Asia Cup. Dominate Asia! it said emphatically. There was some talk of how we have already achieved a lot and how we were number one team but now the time has come to DOMINATE!

This is the language of the present day now. It is about dominating, beating our chest, jumping over the fallen - which is a low way of being. Champions dominate, they do not talk of dominating. The West Indies of the past never said a word, they merely did.

Now if you were the champion, win and show. Win consistently and show what dominance means. But we are far from that space which means we must learn to keep our language and our behavior humble. And if we are truly champions, we will grow even more humbler as we win more and more.

I think we as a society should now learn that it is not about big proclamations, self-certifications and glorifications. It is about having an aim and achieving it through a thought out process, through certain values. It is not about anyone else and what we are doing to them but only about us and what we are doing with our process. But now its all about how great we are vis-a vis that country or that person or whatever.

Champions do not behave that way. And when we try to act like champions when we are not, it really is painful to see. 

That said this team has the potential to do what it says it wants to. But it is not - which means it needs to go back and find the ways to fix itself. Egos, mindsets, clarity, humility - whatever it takes. Win first and then the world will talk about your dominance.

Until then they are empty words. That we have not even made the final must hurt and I hope they acknowledge that hurt. If they are not hurting and brushing it off, they are not learning something important.

And like I said at the very beginning, this has become the norm in society now. Leaders use this language and process, role models do this. Naturally the many kids who follow them will believe it is alright to talk big and not deliver. The only thing we are delivering is in talking big.

Time to talk less and do more. Time to fulfill potential.