Hotel and resort founder, and author Deepak Ohri does the opposite of what you’d typically expect in a book like the one he has currently written. In the pages of A Bridge Not Too Far, he combines aspect of the memoir and the business advice book to create something genuinely compelling, and a wake-up call for all dreamer, aspirers, and budding entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in a postmodernist world, and therefore a semi-postmodern workplace. “Loyalty is an important characteristic when it comes to relationships,” writes Ohri, in a key passage of the book. “I believe that loyalty toward a person, or an organization that stands by you, respects you, and supports you, is key to progress.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: https://www.deepakohri.com/
Loyalty builds trust and that is what people appreciate and value in any relationship. I trusted and respected my boss (when I worked for)…ITDC. I would have been a fool not to put my faith in his recommendation to move on from my current position and I recognized that he was setting me up for an even greater opportunity. (I used to work at) Frontier (which) was a very famous restaurant at the time. It was important to seize the moment while I could. And this turned into a great learning experience for me.
Much of what I learned is what you’d expect – aspects of hospitality, customer service, management, etc. But there was another important lesson here. At that time, I began to be targeted by my colleagues. Like any other industry and company, there are politics involved, and my colleagues did not like that I was given (the) opportunity of (restaurant manager). Nor did they like that I stayed loyal to my former boss and would not participate in bad-mouthing him. I didn’t change my personality. I stayed the same. The reason I’m successful is because I have always been steadfast in following my principles.”
That’s not a mentality we’re used to hearing when thinking about the (traditional) fast pace of the rat race. If anything, the pursuit of success – particularly when depicted in the context of popular culture – has at best entailed adopting semi-Machiavellian, sometimes out-and-out Orwellian attributes. Ohri proves this is simply not the case. “…another important lesson at (a) point in my career…is…to say no, and it is just as important to say it diplomatically…My time at ITDC and (working at) Veela helped me realize one other really important factor about my personality: I wanted to innovate and create; therefore, the old school of thought did not work for me. Nor the plans I had for myself, nor for the plans I had for the business.
I couldn’t play it safe. I couldn’t sit back and wait for good things to come to me. I had to seize new opportunities. I needed to learn more, so that I could push the boundaries, or I would never be able to make my dreams a reality. And that was of paramount importance to me. It still is.”
Garth Thomas