Ms Rekha Udit
Chairperson, Women International Network (WIN)
Dr Patnaaik has a single-minded approach, very focused in leading projects from all spheres of life and his connection with other educationists, social leaders, global icons and the younger generation distinguishes him from everybody else. His passion to work for the future of our nation through younger generation, by leading them ruling through their hearts has always helped him to achieve spectacular success as an educator and administrator.
He is the bridge-builder between the East and the West due to his great knowledge. He has the ability to simplify complex ideas and walk successfully on all tracks of life to bring the empowered youth globally together. He has written many books on Indian philosophy according to Western academic standards, and made all efforts for the West to give serious consideration to Indian philosophy. Through his ideology, he compares different ways of thought process and favours the simplistic rational way. He is well known for his analysis of the human way of life by listening to elders, use of presence of mind towards social issues and practical way of living by amalgamating well with the real life experiences. He is very innovative by adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words.
All of us have our own definition of success. For many of us it’s measured primarily in terms of money and wealth, but there are clearly other important aspects of success. Some people value the freedom to spend their time as they want, others value the ability to help those in need. Yet, whatever the metric, there is a core set of personality traits that is common to successful people. Dr Patnaaik is one of the examples of great achievers, who strictly follow simple living and high thinking. Gandhi Ji was known globally as the Mahatma when he sacrificed all comforts and with sincere zeal he dedicated himself towards the service of the nation.
People are great but greatness doesn’t lie in your own success but in how many lives you have been able to transform—how many fingers you hold and help them lead the life the way you want your life to be. Dr Patnaaik is among such great people who look their success in the limelight of others when their near and dear ones grow.
I’ve seen these traits first-hand in a diverse set of successful people I’ve worked with and known over the years, from billionaires to budding entrepreneurs. Each one was very different and yet they all shared much of the same DNA when it came to the traits that made them successful.
It is this trait that most allowed Dr Patnaaik to overcome the success of past, remain humble, balanced and build the future, where sky is the limit.
Dr Patnaaik, a successful personality well established socially could lead a life in simplified manner but his principle that there is a need to compete, a deeply rooted competitive streak in his nature has always helped him to win. His determination, his creative ways, his obsession to grow day by day with an abiding passion. People often confuse this with work ethic. But working hard isn’t the objective. It’s the competitive drive to do more than anyone else in pursuit of your dream that paves the pathway to success.
His strongest virtue lies in the capacity to let go: “I don’t care how successful you are, holding onto to the past or your latest mistake will only serve to slow you down.” He always shares “Successful people are not anchored by the past. They learn from it—fast—and move on to a bigger challenge”.
He is deeply passionate for improvement. He believes successful people are perpetually trying to improve themselves. They are their worst critics—never satisfied; always striving to be better.
Dr Patnaaik, a popular administrator, has always guided his friends, students to keep an inventory of accomplishments. He says “Successful people keep track of their achievements, not because they necessarily want to put them on display, although many do, but because it reminds them, and those around them, of how overcoming the impossible is often just a matter of dogged perseverance”.
The greatest virtue which I associate with Dr Patnaaik is compulsively working with his network. One of the most consistently common traits is his ability to relentlessly work with his network. All success is built on a network of human connections that need to be nurtured and reinforced.
Dr Patnaaik believes it’s important to reward oneself. When you’re running at full throttle you need to take time to take care of yourself. Emotionally and physically. That may be as simple as a short meditation or a full-on workout, a hobby that indulges you, a philanthropic contribution, or a spontaneous getaway. Whatever it is, the purpose is to avoid burnout, stay centred, and remind yourself of why you’re making the sacrifices you’re making.
Dr Patnaaik has always been an idle for many. People admire him for many of simple but important values. Being grateful, not wavering in a crisis—one of the greatest determinants of success is the ability to keep your head in a firestorm. Successful people like him do not lose their sense of purpose or track in a crisis, and by doing so create a reliable compass setting for those around them. Striving for authenticity—it’s nearly impossible to achieve any degree of success without being trustworthy. For successful people like him being authentic means that they are clear in expressing their opinions and consistently truthful and transparent. You don’t have to agree with them but you’ll never be confused about where they stand. Taking responsibility—inevitably even the most brilliant successes will falter. Owning the failure is a trait that not only engenders trust but also demonstrates to others that failure is not something to be hidden or passed on to the next person in line. Desire to give back—one of the most rewarding things about achieving any degree of success is the opportunity to encourage and motivate others. Successful people like him realize that they have the power to help others increase their confidence in themselves. In doing so they create life-long loyalty that comes back many times over. Personally I feel, nothing has amazed me as much and been as fulfilling as the support I’ve received from colleagues I’ve helped find their own success.
I would like to share some important quotes from great souls: “If you want to achieve your life’s dream and be wildly successful, you need to model yourself after people who are living their dream. The more qualities you have in common, the higher your chances for being wildly successful”.
—Anonymous
Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.
—Tryon Edwards
As an administrator Dr Patnaaik started out in his life as being quite ordinary and many remain that way only. But in short span of time he became extraordinary, successful and a global leader. Definite aim, vision and purpose, expertise and excellence—No matter what he pursued, he became the best in his field. Being always focused with positive attitude and perseverance—Extraordinary people like Dr Patnaaik have realistic optimism. Realistic because they take action and optimistic because no matter what the result may be, they believe their success is inevitable. They believe that like a child learning to walk, they need to take action first and then modify the action according to the feedback that they get. This positive attitude allows them to persevere and be resilient when things don’t go their way.
His flexible nature which amalgamates with the changing world has always been in his favour to lead the life in his own terms and setting examples for many. Dr Patnaaik is a strong communicator, who masters his time by strict management, a person with high self-esteem, he is generous, action oriented, confident, a great reader, enthusiastic, well rounded and balanced. A strong message which a person like Dr Patnaaik shares with others and teach the society is “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want”.
Presently Dr Patnaaik has been engaged in a global project with the International Organisation for Educational Development (IOED). A number of cross-sectoral partnerships have been initiated by the IOED in his leadership to scale-up skill training efforts. The mission of this campaign is to coordinate, converge, implement and monitor skill development activities across globe in general and India in particular.
Dr Patnaaik aims at providing training on skill development to 102 million youths in the country within the next five years. The end objective is to train and develop the skills of the youths along with speed, scale and standards spread all over the country.
The campaign under his leadership will bring together key stakeholders that include the ministries, state governments, departments and other leading industrial bodies, and trainees under a single umbrella, thereby making the campaign a great success.