Success vs. Joy

- XLVII -

Golden Handcuffs

There are many people I know who start feeling restless after they have reached a certain position in the corporate world. Some people are just not cut out to manage other human beings and I often wonder whether managing others is something that is inherent to the nature of man. We are all individuals with distinctive ideas and personalities.

I heard a story concerning a very bright man who became a CEO but never really enjoyed his work. An important aspect of his job was to listen to what other people in his organization were saying and also to look at their presentations. He soon realized that his actions could influence the working of his organization only in a minor way. Eventually, he was forced to leave his job. In fact, he was delighted to leave. He realized that he could do so much and no more in his company because of forces beyond his control.

Despite his creditable academic record, I know he is just not cut out for corporate life. He is an extremely good human being but rather confused about what he wishes to do. He simply cannot identify what would give him maximum satisfaction. He has studied in the best educational institutions and turns out to be skilled in whatever he does. He rises in his organization and then starts rapidly losing interest in his work. He does not enjoy working in the company environment but cannot find an alternative.

Such individuals, in my opinion, will always be dissatisfied as long as they stay in a job in which they don’t find their joy. But they find it difficult to escape such a situation and are in a sense bound by a pair of golden handcuffs to the organization.

This dissatisfaction is not caused by the last or the current job. It was programmed decades ago by the whole society that rewarded conformance. We needed to pass school, sit for exams, take up full-time jobs, get married, and raise children. Somewhere in between we lost touch with what we were really passionate about.

Chapter XLVI :: Chapter XLVIII