Homework Let’s Learn the Formula Of Success

12. The Prospect of Choosing an Idol and an Icon

Since childhood, we all choose our icons or idols and try to be like them in everything. This is our characteristic. Indeed, by nature, a person is always inclined towards development and perfection. A desire to resemble the person you have chosen as an example in your life path is very strong. This, incidentally, is one of the secrets to success: the choice of an ideal worthy of an example. Look at the children playing football in the yard. Most of them try to look like today’s most powerful players, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. They watch their games, follow them on social networks, collect their videos and photos. Children is just an example. Those involved in professional football, choose their ideals in their role. If you ask a goalkeeper, you will know that he wants to be like Gianluigi Buffon, David de Gea, Manuel Neuer, the defenders want to be like Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva or Marcelo, the midfielders want to become a Luca Modric, Toni Cross or Andres Iniesta, while the attackers want to be like Cristiano Ronaldo, Leonel Messi (whom I mentioned recently) or Neymar.

The same is true for other sports and other professions. In my country, for example, various types of martial arts are very popular. If you ask young men involved in martial arts, they will give the names of world champions and Olympic champions, such as Namig Abdullayev, Rafael Aghayev or Ilkam Zakiyev, who are considered their idols.

What artist does not dream of becoming Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Sattar Bahlulzade, or what director doesn’t dream of being Fellini, Spielberg or Scorsese? What actor (actress) doesn’t dream of becoming the new Alain Delon, Marilyn Monroe or Tarantino, what writer does not dream of becoming Dostoevsky, Nizami Ganjavi or Marquez? What singer doesn’t dream of becoming Luciano Pavarotti, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, or what fashion designer doesn’t dream of being Coco Chanel, Pierre Cardin or Giorgio Armani?

I named the first names that came to my mind, though there are many other outstanding people…

Typically, idols or icons are chosen from a local or global circle. Those that we have listed are idols from the local circle. That is, a person engaged in a certain field chooses the most powerful and authoritative person in this field as his idol, tries to imitate him or her and dreams of overcoming the heights that his idol or icon has overcome.

Global idols are great people who have passed away. A person of any profession can choose such an icon. Such people include Jesus Christ, the prophet Muhammad, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Robert Oppenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, Che Guevara, Winston Churchill, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Bill Gates, Warren Edward Buffett.

Like every Azerbaijani, I also have an example to follow from the personality of Heydar Aliyev. This great man in my understanding is a global icon. Wisdom, deep thinking, ability to analyze and make the right decision, will and perseverance, ability to stand the most difficult situations – these are the bright characteristic features of this outstanding personality.

Due to his excellent leadership skills in 1982, Aliyev reached the highest administrative body in the former USSR – the Politburo – and took the high post of first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Of course, Kremlin wasn’t very happy with this rapid advance of a non-Russian person under Great Russian chauvinism. Groundless attacks on him, especially the dirty condemnation in Pravda, the most popular newspaper of the time, under the heading «Aliyevism and Crying for a New Time», created an extremely critical situation around our leader. As the famous film playwright Ramiz Fataliev said: «The reason that Heydar Aliyev could not be accepted is his ability to look ahead for 5–6 years, which they themselves were deprived of.» Attacks, obstacles on the way finally forced this great person to resign in 1987. In the prime of life, this man with rich experience and huge baggage of knowledge and skills remained out of work. However, his inactivity did not last long. It was right before the collapse of the USSR, so all 15 republics of the Union, including Azerbaijan, gained independence.

Heydar Aliyev, who returned from Moscow to independent Azerbaijan in 1990, had to survive the persecution in his own country as well. He faced the attacks of former party functionaries with a philistine worldview once he first stepped on his native land – the Baku airport. Harassment in parliament, ban on living in the capital had an extremely severe effect on him, and inflicted great moral trauma. But this man with unbending will soon was able to put back those who considered him to be «decommissioned». Thanks to popular love, in 1991 he was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, thereby proving that he had not surrendered and could show himself. In 1993, when the leadership of the republic (which had recently expelled him from Baku) brought the country to chaos and civil war, Aliyev came to power to head the state at the request of people. This great man, the architect of independent Azerbaijan, won great authority not only in his homeland, but also in world political arena, obtaining many awards and honorary titles. He is not forgotten even after death. Streets and parks in many parts of the world are named after him. Today, there is a monument to Aliyev in all cities and regions of Azerbaijan, as well as in Belgrade, Istanbul, Kiev, Tbilisi, Qalyubia (Egypt), St. Petersburg and many other places. I think that the path that Heydar Aliyev has taken can serve as an example for anyone who wants to succeed in life. I am a person born in 1976, when Heydar Aliyev headed the Azerbaijan SSR, so all my life I considered myself his student, studied his biography, his articles and speeches. The life of this person is truly a big school. It can serve as an example to anyone who wants to achieve a goal and is looking for motivation.

I am very happy I was able to implement my admiration for this great man. I was a screenwriter to the documentary «Heydar Aliyev. Lesson of Leadership» (directed Georgy Spasokukotsky, editor Mohsun Gadir-oglu).

One of the most interesting moments in the film is the fact that was carefully concealed in Soviet times. During the Chernobyl tragedy (the disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, USSR, in 1986, as a result of which radioactive particles spread around, creating a great danger to people's lives. All life within 30 km zone was destroyed) Heydar Aliyev opposed the political decision of USSR leaders to «not give in to panic» and convinced them to evacuate women and children with a total number of 800 thousand people to a safe zone. Konstantin Masik, the former deputy minister of Ukraine, talked about this in his interview, calling Heydar Aliyev the savior of the Ukrainians.

In order for my book to be comprehensive, it would be appropriate to publish the recollections of an Arab, in which the Heydar Aliyev phenomenon is revealed in various aspects:

«In 1970s, Heydar Aliyev visited Syria as the head of the CPSU delegation. As an employee of Syrian television, I was fortunate enough to interview him about this trip. During the conversation, Mr. Aliyev asked me: „What would you like from Moscow? I am also a Muslim, don’t be shy, tell me what you need“. Shocked by his sincere attitude, I turned to him for a solution to my problem. At that time, I wanted to marry a Syrian citizen living in Moscow. But certain Soviet circles did not allow her to leave Moscow for Syria. So I turned to Aliyev for a solution to this problem. Smiling, he replied: „I thought you would ask me for something impossible. If that’s all, we’ll figure it out!“

Two weeks later, my bride received a message that there were no objections to her departure to Syria. We got married. Thanks to Heydar Aliyev, I gained family happiness. I will be grateful to this outstanding personality all my life with my wife and three children, and we will always remember him.

Muhammad Hayir Wadi

If they ask me about the second icon, I would give one name without hesitation. It’s Warren Edward Buffett. My first icon, Heydar Aliyev, is an outstanding world politician, while the second icon, Warren Edward Buffett, is a world-renowned investor. This person is considered one of the most influential investors, as well as one of the richest people in the world. According to Forbes magazine, this person ranks third among the world's richest people. Born in 1913 in the family of American entrepreneur Howard Buffett, Warren has a very interesting biography. His mother Leila Stahl was Jewish by birth. At the age of 11, he had already tested himself on the stock exchange. Warren asked his father to buy shares in Citits Service Preferred. His father bought three shares at 38 dollars each. When the shares got a little cheaper, Buffett was very upset, but when they went up again and began to cost about $40, he immediately sold them, resulting in five dollars. After some time, he found out that the shares costed over $200. Buffett was very sorry. It was at that moment that he decided he would never «get ahead», that is, he would never rush.

He earned his first capital – 10 thousand dollars – thanks to a successful idea: installing pinball game machines in the hairdresser. At the age of 35, he became the owner of a majority stake in the worsted company Berkshire Hathaway, which now forms the basis of his investment holding.

In addition to idols, in my book I also talk about the significant role of teachers and parents for a person’s building a successful career. An important role in Buffet’s successful career, in addition to his father, was played by Benjamin Graham, his teacher from Columbia University. Here is what Buffett says about this: «The second person after my father who was of great importance in my life was Benjamin Graham. It was he who, with the help of fundamental analysis, influenced me to develop my basic skills in reasonable investment.»

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