Is there a place for an ordinary person with ordinary ambitions in this extremely competitive world?

So many people walk around with a meaningless life.They seem half-asleep,even when they are doing things they think are Important.This is because they are chasing wrong things.The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself  to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning(Morrie Schwartz to Mitch Albom in tuesdays with Morrie)

This thought has been there at  the back of my mind  for quite some time now.This is the result of my association with corporates,business schools, training & development institutions and also the books I laid my hands on including self-help books, autobiographies of successful people and corporate stories.Most of them talk about  becoming extra-ordinary achievers by single-mindedly pursuing extra-ordinary, jumbo ambitions.All of them try to teach you how to go one up on others in achieving your highly ambitious goals.And such jumbo ambitions continue to be nurtured by  many of the individuals  even after they have acquired whatever they wanted from their professional and personal life and even after retirement from active service.Most find it difficult to rein in their  ever-increasing ambitions-higher pay packets, better or best luxury vehicles, palace like houses, increasing investments in real estate and stock markets, better vacations and tourist spots, membership in elite clubs, sending children to Ivy league schools and institutions for education, acquisition of private yachts/jets- there is no end to it.And most of the personality development programmes for executives force  them to set  sky-high ambitions and pursue them aggressively .They also mention that even if you don’t reach sky, you will have moved far away from the earth(current level) to somewhere closer to sky and that is definitely a cause for celebration.

My intention is not to propagate a pessimistic view of ambitions.One has to be ambitious.But why have ambitions that are usually beyond one’s capacity or capabilities?Why corporate chiefs, institutional heads or leadership trainers talk about stratospheric ambitions? I still remember attending a talk by a person connected to Amway in their  MLM chain.(I attended because I was told by the person who organized it that it was about interactive marketing).The whole talk was about kindling the softer side of life’s ambitions  from a sky-high plane:Wouldn’t you like to  own a mansion, the best in  the best place in your locality? Wouldn’t you like to drive a Ferrari?Wouldn’t you like to have great vacations in exotic locations like Alps in Switzerland or   Maldives  when you want to? And a number of participants, who were moved by the possibility of realizing such extra-ordinary ambitions, immediately enrolled by paying on the spot.Of course, the speaker also mentioned about the need to apply ‘stretch’ principles to your life ( already popularized by GE and its former CEO,Jack Welch).

And what happens once you start achieving your ambitions?You usually set a higher  ambition(not necessarily a higher order one) as a target.You may still achieve it.Then you again raise the bar of ambitions.You will be tempted to believe that you can achieve whatever ambitions you set for yourself.But, at some point, the bar cannot be surmounted.Or in some people’s cases,their capabilities or competencies and even stretch efforts don’t enable them to realize their high ambitions.In both cases, people in their anxiety to prove that they are capable of realizing their ambitions, and also understand that  no more stretching is possible or can work,start using short cuts  to maintain their rates of achievements of ambitions.Their comparisons with peers start foundering and they start feeling uncomfortable.And here, usually the problems start- both on professional and personal front.

It is in this context the worth of ordinary people having ordinary ambitions  and leading ordinary lives come to the fore.They are sans the stratospheric ambitions but ones that are more down to earth. They may apply stretch but from a different, broader perspective of nation’s or society’s interest, they may even do extra-ordinary work not necessarily  from a higher-level wealth or other routine ambition-aggrandizing angle but from a higher order of conserving resources, indulging in sacrifices, preserving nature and values of life.One may critique that aren’t these also ambitions?They are.But, by and large, as of now, when we talk about high  ambitions or say that one is highly ambitious, it is basically interpreted or understood  as materialistic ambitions.May be on a later date, the word ambition may take a different meaning altogether. 

Of course, my perception about ambition may be in direct contradiction to Adam Smith’s proclamation each individual furthering self interests  and that the ‘invisible hand’ will take care of the rest.As many of the incidents of economic recessions in the recent past will prove that the invisible hand failed to work , at least when required.It was the ‘visible hand’ of the government(and not of the managerial class as envisaged by Charles Handy) that had to intervene to save economies and countries from the verge of disaster.

While my  concern  about the chances of an ordinary person with ordinary ambitions  in this extremely competitive world may be pooh poohed by many, I still feel that they are real.And I feel such people can survive only if a paradigm shift happens in the way we look at profession and life. This will require that the  mindset of people have to change to take care of the following factors:

1.Restrain from the temptation to compare your achievements with your peers  in your organization or outside.This is because  most of the time the comparisons are about materialistic achievements which may vary, sometimes even dramatically. 

2.Try to be contented with what life has given you-capabilities,position, power,money, wealth, physical assets,family &  children and friends. All the factors in the environment with which you interact, will advise you to set your sight on being first.But remember that in any competitive event, there will be only one first or that everybody cannot be first and that in order for someone to be first, there has to be a second. When you are in doubt, please look downwards- there are many who are under-privileged and who is deprived of many of those things which you, by god’s grace,have.And when it comes to matters related to personal life,you set your own success parameters . 

3.Redefine success or rewrite the parameters of success.You may find that you are successful by many counts but still there may be other parameters where you have to catch up.For example, if you find that you have still not attained the simplicity or humility that you aimed at, you may still have to work for it.But, for sure, a lack of comparison with peers will relieve the pressure on you and you can still go with a very open mind about  those parameters.

4.Apply stretch principles with a paradigm shift in thinking.The questions involving stretch can be something like: Can you,the CEO or a senior ranking position with power anywhere,think of yourself as one among equals and settle for a pay cheque that is not very different from your senior level(and also in comparison to the average paycheque to employees in general)?Can you apply stretch to drive a small car preferably by yourself(rather than a luxury gasoline guzzler) thereby reducing costs and adding value to the customer, company, shareholder and other stakeholders , and create more jobs through productive ventures and helping the society at large(by using less of its depletive resources)?

5.Start applying stretch principle to your personal life- like devoting more time with wife, children and friends,doing what you can to help the poor  and needy , reading books you always wanted to read, and helping your country and world at large in conserving some of the rapidly depleting resources like oil  by driving a small, fuel efficient car rather than a big fuel guzzler  etc.

6.Determine how much money you need.Your company or institution may have a policy of compensating at the 80^th percentile of the industry standard.But it is for you to decide how much you need to take.Same is true for perquisites.Resist the temptation to ask for or take more.

7.Don’t show craze for assets like land, gold etc  as such additional interest will only push the prices of these assets up making them unaffordable for many of those who really need them.

Book Review :What Money Can’t Buy:The Moral Limits Of Markets

Author                  : Michael Sandel

Publisher               :Allen Lane

No.of pages          :235

Price                     :Rs.550

Year                      :2012

Have you ever heard of a company which makes money from  having people on its rolls  to stand in for you in a queue?Have you also known that among these line standing business companies, there are companies which specialize in certain types of line standing- for example, in the US Congressional committee hearings? That in US, where one has to wait for weeks and months for appointments with doctors, a concierge services have been offered by doctors at annual fees ranging from $1,500 to $25,000 for assuring same day or immediate appointments and 24-hour access to the doctor  by email and cell phone? That doctors and insurers offer cash incentives to patients to take drugs prescribed?That at times fines may be  considered as fees which lead people not to refrain from wrong doings?That a non-violent criminal can upgrade the prison cell – a clean, quiet  jail cell- by paying  something like $82  per night?

These and many other things one can get to know and become enlightened  on the numerous ways of how  market factors pervade even areas which many of us thought were not or could not be influenced by markets, if we read What Money Can’t Buy by Michael Sandel.

Prof Sandel  describes how the ’non-judgmental  stance toward values  lies at the heart of  market reasoning and explains much of its appeal’. And, according to him, ‘our reluctance to engage in moral and spiritual argument, together with  our embrace of markets , has  exacted a heavy price; it has drained public discourse of moral and civic energy , and contribute to the technocratic, managerial politics that afflicts many societies today’.One clear advice that emanates from Mr.Sandel is that one  has to also follow moral judgments on markets and its behaviours.Our society, by and large, don’t permit selling of children or votes because selling these things will result in valuing them in the wrong way and cultivate bad attitudes.

Prof.Sandel also provides us with new insights regarding what corruption actually entails.The general assumption about corruption is ill-gotten gains.But according to him, corruption refers to more than bribes  and illicit payments.’To corrupt a good or a social practice is to degrade it, to treat it according to a lower mode of valuation than is appropriate to it ‘, according to Sandel.Also, we can ascribe corruption when buying and selling happens in something that should  not be up for sale.Hence, he asserts that charging admission  to congressional hearings  is a form of corruption from this angle.He says that the process of charging treats Congress as if it were a business rather than institution representing government.

Most of the economists do not deal with moral questions in their usual role as economists.They believe in the price system that allocates goods/services according to people’s preferences; they don’t  bother about whether those preferences were worthy or admirable or even appropriate to the circumstances.For example he cites an economic analysis of marriage  by Nobel-winning economist Gary S.Becker.According to Becker, a person decides to marry when the utility expected from marriage exceeds that expected from remaining single.Also, a married person divorces when the utility anticipated from becoming single or marrying someone  else  exceeds the loss in utility from separation, including losses due to separation from one’s children, division of joint assets, legal fees etc. And Prof.Sandel  is of the opinion  that love, obligation and  commitment in marriage are ideals  that can’t be reduced to monetary  terms  and that a good marriage is priceless.

Prof.Sandel also explains  how at times  fines will be considered as fees by those who pay fines.He narrates the experience of an Israeli day-care facility for children which imposed a fine on those parents who come late to collect their wards, causing lot of inconveniences for the day-care centre.According to pricing norms of economics theory, the instances of late collection of  their wards must have  come down.But, the number pf parents coming late to collect their wards in fact increased.This, according to Prof.Sandel, is the result of the parents  treating the fines as fees.

Sandel also gives a number of example where incentives have failed to work contrary to the economists’ view of incentives. He cites a case  how  51% of a  Swiss community accepted the proposal to have a particular place identified  for nuclear waste disposal as they thought it was a civic duty  on them in spite of the risks.But as economists added  sweeteners- to pay compensation for each resident of the community as high  as their median monthly income, the support came down from 51% to 25% as the residents felt that the compensation was a sort of bribe to buy their votes.

For the inquisitive and discernible reader, the book offers very interesting insights.A must read for those who study and follow market-oriented economic aspects.

About the author

Prof.Michael J.Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M.Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University.His course ‘Justice’ is a big hit at Harvard  and is freely available online.He was named the ‘most influential foreign figure of the year’ in 2010,  by China Newsweek. His book Justice,  published in 2010(Farrar, Straus and Giroux),is an international best seller.

Book Review :The End Of Leadership

Title                                       : The End Of Leadership

Author                                   : Barbara Kellerman

Publisher                               : Harper Business

Year                                       : 2012

No. of Pages                         : 200

Price                                      : Rs.783

Barbara  Kellerman, an accomplished expert on leadership and author of a number of  leadership-related books, has written a book which given the title may give an impression that she has written an obituary on leadership as a concept and body of knowledge. But it is far from an RIP on leadership but which forces the reader to look at leadership from a different perspective. The book has already been discussed in the business press with Prof.T.T.Ram Mohan writing on it in Economic Times and Mr.B.S.Rahavan writing about  it in Business Line.

The book is a compendium of the changes in the leadership theories and practices that happened as one travelled from the 20^th century to the 21^st century. She asserts that she has chosen to write the book because she finds a big gap between the teaching of leadership and the practice of leadership as we entered the 21^st century. And she is also equally uneasy about how  the leadership institution, the trainers, seminars, workshops, books, blogs, websites, videos, consultants and coaches- all claiming to teach people about leadership-which Kellerman refers to as the leadership industry, has grown to the present level without necessarily understanding its own deficiencies. And also, she feels that leaders of every sort-political, religious, corporate or other- are in disrepute and laments that over its nearly 40year history, the industry has not , in any “major, meaningful way improved human condition”

Kellerman narrates how the institution of leadership has undergone dramatic changes over a period. She starts with the example of the institution of marriage, which has moved from a husband-centric scenario to one of equal status to both the husband and wife. She feels that the same kind of change has happened in leadership scenario. From a leader-centric earlier days, where followers did not get any recognition, the institution has moved to one where followers  have gained equal if not more importance. And the leadership industry, which might have made a difference  at the micro-level,  but at the macro level, the industry has wholly failed to make the necessary impact, probably leading to all time lowest levels  of trust and approval of leaders.

The book gives umpteen numbers of examples of how followers, instead of leaders, are calling more important shots  in many important events in the world including many revolutions in the recent past- like those in Egypt, where the autocrat ruler Hosni Mubarak was ousted and in Libya where long time ruler Gaddafi  was removed and killed. She also talks about the role and influence of media and especially the social networking  in bringing the followers  from their erstwhile position of practically no importance to one of major importance and influence. The author questions why, despite all the importance and talk about the leadership development, the world has gone from bad to worse. Lots of countries, economies, corporates and other institutions have failed to live up to  their expectations, mostly because  of pitfalls in leadership, despite all the thrust given to the discipline.

Ms.Kellerman has wonderfully dealt with  a contentious issue like leadership in the current context. While the book doesn’t give any prescriptions per se about how to improve the leadership scenario, diverting more attention to the followership has been definitely taken care of.

Notwithstanding the importance ascribed to  the followership in the context of leadership, and the context in which leadership has to be viewed, the reader wonders why the author falters a little toward the end. Almost throughout the book, the author emphatically emphasizes that there is no standard format for  leadership development or for that matter ”leadership” is different from “leader”. But except for a few examples  from the general arena like Wael Ghonim, a Google  executive  who mustered the support of thousands of supporters  for his movement against the atrocious behavior of the Egyptian authorities, Ms.Kellerman  mostly deals with leaders, who  occupy  top positions in the hierarchy- be it politics, business or others. And, while criticizing the leadership industry and developing leaders, she complains about a lack of curriculum and pedagogy for leadership development. Isn’t it contradicting  her own views that leadership development has to be context-based and there is no one size that fits all? Also, one may be tempted to  ask why there has been practically no mention about self-development of leadership through learning and practicing.

About the author

Barbara Kellerman is the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at John F. Kennedy School of Government  of Harvard University. She was the founder director  of the School’s Center For Public Leadership and also served as its research director. Was ranked among the Top 50 Business Thinkers  in 2009 and in the top 15 of 100”best minds on leadership” in 2008 and 2009.She has authored and edited 13 other books on leadership.

Book Review :How Will You Measure Your Life: Finding Fulfillment Using Lessons From Some of The World’s Greatest Businesses

Book Review

Title                         :How Will You Measure Your Life: Finding Fulfillment Using Lessons From Some of The World’s Greatest Businesses

Publisher                :Harper Collins

Binding                  :Paperback

Year                      :2012

Pages                    :222

Price                     :Rs.399

Clayton Christensen, considered to be among ther top 50 influential thinkers in the world today, along with  James Allenworth and Karen Dillon,has written an extremely fascinating  and touching book on how to live life from its holistic perspective.In the process, he applies some of the well-known theories and practices from the world of business and management, citing  examples from real life.The book is based on his address to the students of Harvard Business School in 2010 where he talked about the things that are most important in our lives.In addition to drawing on the various theories, he tries to address the issues in life by posing three questions, the answers of which will help many of the professionals  from the trauma they usually face in their careers.The three questions are:

How can I be sure that

1.I will be successful and happy in my career?

2.My relationship with my spouse, my children, and my extended family and  close friends become an enduring  source of happiness?

3.I live a life of integrity- and stay out of jail?

Of course, Prof.Christensen is very clear that dealing with these questions requires tremendous amount of hard work and lots of time, but that will help all individuals to find an answer to the final question: How will you measure your life?

While data collection and information can help you in many ways, there are severe limitations for that in our lives.Clay narrates the example of mankind’s attempts to fly.People to believe that  what allowed bird to fly were wings and feathers.And by trying to fly with wings and feathers strapped to their waist, men failed to fly.The problem was that people did not understand  the fundamental causal  mechanism that enables certain creatures to fly.According to Clay, the analogy applies to our lives.According to him, “Solving the challenges in your life requires a deep understanding of what causes what to happen”.He says that while one should learn all about that one can learn from the past, that alone won’t solve the challenges that you face in future.According to him, using a robust theory to “predict what will happen has a much greater chance of success”.

The book starts with a discussion on finding happiness in one’s career.For this, one has to set priorities, balance the plans with the opportunities and to implement the plan by dedicating resources.He goes on to assert that the reasons for one to get stuck in unhappy careers and also unhappy lives is as a result of a fundamental misunderstanding of what motivates us.Clay then exposes the incentive theory or agency theory propagated by Jensen and Meckling  which states that people work in accordance with how you pay them  by noting that  some of the hardest –working  people on the planet are employed with non-profits where financial incentives rarely do exist.Hence, according to him, true motivation is getting people to do something because they want to do it.Of course, he pooh poohs the belief that money is the root cause of professional unhappiness.The problems, according to him, starts when money becomes the priority over all else.The hygiene factors such as money, status, job security etc don’t matter much beyond a certain point.What really matters is the meaning people feel about their work which encourages them to put in their best efforts.For Clay, the theory of motivation suggests that one needs to ask oneself  a set of questions that we normally don’t ask:Is the work meaningful to me?Is the job going to give me a chance to develop?Am I going to learn new things?Will I have an opportunity for recognition and achievement? etc etc

Christensen goes on to explain deliberate and emergent strategies  in the pursuit of a career.Too much of preparation and planning  for a specific career at times will lead to accepting positions that may not  meet your expectations of rewards, recognition and happiness.Opportunities usually evolve in the environment which one will be able to seriously consider and adopt if one follows an emergent strategy.

According to him, high achievers focus too much on becoming the person they want to be at the job and ignore the person they want to be  at home or they overinvest in their careers and underinvest in their families, depriving the most important resources the life needs to happily flourish.Allocation of the resources must be in line with one’s priorities.One must remember that while work can bring the sense of achievement and fulfillment, it can never bring  the enduring happiness one can find in the intimate relationships with your family and close friends.

Good companies don’t necessarily have  a winning strategy  at the beginning and they usually are impatient for profit and patient for growth, and once the strategy has been found viable, they become impatient for growth and patient for profit.While as executives, many of  us take care of the companies’ strategies in the right way by investing for future, very rarely we invest for future happiness:we ignore birthdays and other celebrations in the families, fail to respond to e-mails,and phone calls.The book goes on building analogies between business theories and life in the ten chapters ending with the perils of marginal thinking in both business and life.Very often we all break certain rules  and our own ethical principles  for just this once by justifying  small choices.But  gradually this thinking  can assume  large proportions  bringing at least bad reputation if not a jail term.

A wonderful short book, a must read for busy business people and , executives who relentlessly follow  a single-minded career pursuit,ignoring the other side of our only one life and and for every person from  every walks of life.It is books like these, containing pearls of wisdom, that helps  us to firmly have our feet on the ground.

About The Authors

Clayton M.Christensen is the Kim B.Clark Professor at HBS, author of seven books including the best seller The Innovator’s Dilemma;was rated as the most influential thinker in 2011 by Thinkers 50.

James Allworth from Australia is a graduate of HBS, winner of Baker Scholar Award, had stints with Booz & Company and Apple.

Karen Dillon was editor of Harvard Business Review  until  2011.Was named as one of the world’s   most influential & inspiring women in 2011 by Ashoka ChangemakeHERS.