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I was reading this story about how Lamborghini came to existence. Story courtesy – Youstory.in

Inspirational Stories – Lamborghini

Ferrucio belonged to a wealthy Italian family which made tractors. Like every rich person who loves to own a Ferrari, Ferrucio did own one and was not very happy with the design. Surprisingly enough, it did give him constant troubles. Deciding to take the matter into his own hands, he tried to fix it and realized it had a machinery similar to his tractors and went ahead to discuss the problem with the Ferrari Owners. Like every big company which doesn’t take a small one seriously Ferrari owners shunned him and their exact words were “Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari Properly“. Well this is what happens when you abuse a rich powerful man with talent or rather this is what happens when you abuse a man with passion and a gut to prove people wrong. And the rest is history – Lamborghini now tops the car lists, known to be among the most sought after cars in the world. 

Now the question is what it tells us?! Well the literal solution is that we take our Honda or Volkswagen cars to their respective showrooms and tell them that they are rubbish. The problem is – I wouldn’t know how to explain why and I am certainly not talented enough to build a new car or a new company which produces a fleet of cars. But here is what I can certainly try and take away from it.

Belief

To know what it takes to make something and make it happen are two different things. It is often said that expertise is an easier skill, if you do not have one, you can always find one or hire one. There are lots of experts and brilliant people around and you don’t have to be the smartest to achieve. But you do have to know that something, that something which takes you there to the winner’s circle – It is the belief in yourself, the belief in your idea and the belief that you are going to make it happen no matter what. That takes you a long way.

Attitude

How many of us would actually go and give this answer to a Honda or a Maruti? Forget Ferrari?! I know that I wouldn’t! The max  I would do is crib about it a bit and then come back, probably write a scathing letter and that is it. But what Ferrucio did was extraordinary. He turned an irritation, an annoyance to an achievement. And that is sheer attitude. I think millions of things happen to us and a lot of them bother us too. But the question is what we do about it!

The will to make it happen

I have felt the same too. In the fit of my range, I have told myself that I should find a way to sink the other company and come up with a product so good that it is going to leave the other in dumps. But there was something amiss in that – YES! The will to make it happen. I think we need to differentiate between the sudden upsurge of an emotion and the will to make a difference. Cos the latter takes effort, it takes your blood and sweat and if you are as committed as it needs, then there is nothing to stop you.

Responding to the criticism constructively

How do you respond to criticism? What do you do when someone says you can’t do something? Shout at them? Tell them how big a fool they are? Punch them in the nose? I guess Ferrucio could have done all that and still gotten away. But he did something special with it, something even more extraordinary. He converted that into a construction and made something out of it. The first few things are the easiest to do and naturally ephemeral, but the one that lasts takes that little bit of extra effort :)

Making the difference

The whole attitude is about making a difference! Lots  of things happen to us and we let go of them for various reasons. Sometimes we say that it is not worth it, sometimes we are just too tired and the other times we feel helpless. We can feel anything and everything we want but the decision to make a difference does go a long way in defining the results.

That is the story of Ferrucio from tractors to one of the most sophisticated cars in the world – Lamborghini! – inspirational stories in their own essence!

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