Are you feeling unappreciated or under-appreciated? Read this! It is all in your attitude.

How many of you have been through a phase in life when you feel your performance is not being appreciated or even being noticed. Or worse, how many of you have been through situations when you know that somebody else is going to get recognized for your work.

 Almost all of us have been through such scenarios in life at some point or other and for most of us it is a painful situation. It becomes difficult to strive for excellence for an average person, when there is no recognition or appreciation to boost his/her morale.

But that such a situation can become one of the biggest moments of one's life, where one gets a chance to demonstrate what a leader he/she really are. It is an opportunity to show to ourselves why you really seek to excel - is it for an external stimulus or does the initiative and drive come from within. Even when no one is watching, I would like you to imagine a hundred thousand of your imaginary clones watching you and you, the athlete, is in the center, under the spotlight and is about to jump the leadership vault.

The drive to excel for a true leader comes from within. Maslow's hierarchy of human needs says the highest level of human motivation is self-actualization that is "the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming." Even Gita says, the highest form of worship comes from Gyanis (or supreme scholars) whose desire for enlightenment has no material motivation.

There are lots of advantages to choose to excel when you feel unappreciated or under appreciated.

1. Otherwise, you may lose an opportunity to master perfection. Life is a perennial learning process. There is a huge opportunity cost involved in missing the chance to excel or perform at the highest level possible, if you slow down for the lack of appreciation. I came across a quote a few days ago, 'Education is expensive, unless you include the cost of ignorance'. By losing heart and choosing to be shoddy, you lose an opportunity to learn.

2. Changes occur fast. You cannot ramp up your skill when excellence is suddenly appreciated or when you change jobs or your company is bought by its rival and they are laying off people. Excellence and mediocrity easily become a habit.

3. True leaders tread unchartered territory and because it is unchartered, nobody can appreciate their driving skills. In other words if you want others to understand what you achieve, you can only achieve what others already have; and that my friend is not leadership. If Columbus had gone east like others have, he wouldn't have discovered America.

4. Excellence bleeds excellence. I urge to think about this. When you squeeze a honeycomb, you get the nectar of sweet honey.  When things don't go right and the world is squeezing you, do you want leadership or uninspired performance to come out of you?

I want you to remember that what you are going through is also what you are growing through. Hence, keep yourself motivated and aim for perfection even during trials and tribulations.

This article was first published in SWOPMI Membership Publication in Sept. '2005