What's in a name?- Part I
It is safe to assume that you may have seen Gladiator, a blockbuster released in the year 2000 that won no less than 5 academy awards, including for best picture.
Allow me therefore, to run you through a short part of its brilliant screenplay.
To give you some background, Marcus Aurelius is the old king of Rome; Commodus is his son and Maximus his brave General. As the king is getting old, and a major war has been won against Germania, he decides to have 2 separate conversations with his son and his general on succession:
Marcus Aurelius: Are you ready to do your duty for Rome?
Commodus: Yes, father.
Marcus Aurelius: You will not be emperor.
Commodus: Which wiser, older man is to take my place?
Marcus Aurelius: My powers will pass to Maximus, to hold in trust until the Senate is ready to rule once more. Rome is to be a republic again.
Commodus: Maximus?
Marcus Aurelius: Yes. My decision disappoints you?
Commodus: You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: Wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness, courage, perhaps not on the battlefield, but... there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you. But none of my virtues were on your list.
Marcus Aurelius: There is one more duty that I ask of you before you go home.
Maximus: What would you have me do Caesar?
Marcus Aurelius: I want you to become the protector of Rome after I die. I will empower you to one end alone, to give power back to the people of Rome and end the corruption that has crippled it.
Marcus Aurelius: Do you accept this great honor that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius: Maximus that is why it must be you.
Maximus: And Commodus?
Marcus Aurelius: Commodus is not a moral man. You have known that since you were young. Commodus cannot rule. He must not rule. You're the son that I should have had. Commodus will accept my decision. He knows that you command the loyalty of the army.
Dwell on this for a while, read it again if you will, paying special attention to the words that I have underlined. We will come back to it.
Cut to modern times: A young man, all of 20 years old, from one of the poorest slums in the city, comes in for an interview and is hired. The young man confides in me his ambition to become CEO, one day. I fall off my chair, recover my composure enough to ask a few polite questions and get to understand that from great deprivation is born great ambition, whether deserved or not.
All around me, people are going crazy seeking high titles. Never mind the fortune at the bottom of pyramid, people are busy inverting the corporate pyramid to a point where designations have lost all meaning. In an airline company, where I worked, amongst a 50,000 strong global workforce, there were just 4 Vice Presidents. Today, youngsters who may have just stopped wetting their pants seek to be "We-Pee" just as they graduate out of their MBA schools. Naturally then, with great sense of innovation, and in the universal spirit of accommodating everyone with ambitions overflowing, corporate hierarchies too have evolved- today, you have a deputy COO, a senior Deputy COO, an assistant and associate COO, an 'about to be COO' and several other versions, never mind how incredibly stupid it all sounds. That's just the modern version of a 'flat' organization. Flat at the top that is. If you want to find out who really does what, forget it. It may be a better idea to simply play a game of Sudoku, a puzzle it is too, but at least it has some logic.
I receive an unsolicited call from a recruitment agent (by now an unavoidable inconvenience if you have to stay in the 'game') who, without making any apologies for it, blurts out the details of an opening, in a crass, rehearsed tone, even before I can so much as acknowledge her. When I ask her about the company which she is recruiting for, her tone hushes, voice drops to a whisper, as if she was about to break a massive state secret to me, bigger than what Wikileaks could ever imagine. At other times, recruitment agents have questioned me about my title being 'just' Manager. I immediately correct their folly, drawing their attention to my resume and pointing out that once, long back, I was a Senior Manager. That's by way of jest. But people take titles so seriously these days, that very often when I crack this one, I have to explain that I am joking. But seriously, what's with the titles?
There's the famous Harvard case study of a Japanese ship welder, who, before he could get into the coveted job of welding the hull of the ship spends 100's of hours honing his skills as a welder. Today of course the robots have taken over this precision welding job, but the example is to illustrate the importance of spending time in the field. Raghuvir Sahay, a theatre artist and the main cast in the movie Peepli live, says he picked up his talent acting in Natak Mandalis (folk theatres) that travel around the country. A celebrated chef in Taj, sets aside 1 full month to travel across rural areas in coastal India to learn original coastal recipes.
Read Outliers (Authored by Malcolm Gladwell, by now celebrated for books like What the dog saw, or The Tipping point) The central premise of the book is exactly same: that anyone who has achieved some degree of expertise in his/her chosen field has started early and spent at least 10,000 hours honing their skills that are required to become an expert. He goes on to give several examples including that of Beatles and some accomplished athletes.
Or don't read the book. Go and see '3 Idiots' – What is the message in the movie? If you think the popularity of the movie, is any indication that people are 'getting it', I can give you a nice gold bordered certificate that you are an optimist.
I recall, long ago, as a young person I would say hello every morning to a photo of Sir Sean Connery, bearded, in a black suit with a bow tie, almost bald but not devoid of any of his charisma, pinned right infront of my eyes on a board over looking my desk. I had torn it out of a magazine with an accompanying interview which had the following quote from him in large italics: "I have met many educated people, but few who have the insatiable appetite to know, to create, to be curious, to be better men".
Titles, at least to my mind, represented excellence, the power of original thinking, power to create. It represented wisdom gained through experience and experience comes through years of toil. They were a certificate of a rank deserved, of a standing that came from respect that was earned, of admiration that was showered from superiors, fellow workers and subordinates alike. It was to reflect the trust, a company's stakeholders had bestowed upon its bearer, to influence the trajectory of the company, not control the destiny of its people. A title was about achieving, not an achievement in itself! High titles were about truly being a better man.
Not anymore. Today, titles are empty tags. They represent an invisible ladder, each rung decorated with a price tag, a corner office, a sexy secretary et el. Today, it is about power brokering, about politicking, about 'you scratch my back, I will scratch yours', about everything that is petty, and unbecoming. Today, it has nothing to do with a sense of creation. Do you ever wonder why so many organizations are falling apart? Times are when people forget the difference between deserving and demanding. They choose to have status over stature because status can be acquired. Stature has to be built, there are no short cuts.
Back to the gladiator screenplay: I saw it over and over and over until the words rang in my mind.
Wisdom, Justice, fortitude and temperance vs. ambition and loyalty
It is perhaps, the closest, most apt metaphor to describe today's corporate world albeit in a melodramatic way. Surely, no one would disagree. The disagreement is on whether to be on the left or the right of this equation to get to the throne.
I have nothing against ambition. In drawing room discussions on this subject, almost everyone, including my wife, disagrees with me on the non-importance of a title. They point out that as in the movie, so in life-power is grabbed, not given. They remind of the ways of the wily Narsimnha Rao, my favorite politician. They tell me am confusing power with morality. In defense, I point back to the 'happy ending' of the movie. They in turn remind me the differences between reel and real life.
I truly believe that an undeserved title, far from helping you achieve greater heights can actually hinder your work, your success in an organization in terms of work that you want to accomplish. It can damage your long term prospects. Who does not want to lead from the top; have men follow orders?
Getting a title or reaching the top can, at best, be a mission. A more relevant question to ask would be: What's my vision for this company? For it's people? For the industry? For the country? Is it not the vision that separates a statesman from a politician? Desiring a title in itself cannot certainly be an end goal, can it be? Wouldn't you rather that your time at the top is remembered as an era instead of just being described as tenure? If it's the title that you crave, as did Commodus, remind yourself in time- If you cannot lead in thought, you must stand apost with other men in deed.
Having a title without a vision is like being a terrorist with an AK 47 who does not really aim, and ends up causing a lot of collateral damage. It is like rejoicing the statistics of 50 centuries by Sachin Tendulkar, without actually relishing the beauty of watching him play. Or it may be akin to checking stock scrips everyday without any intention to buy or sell. What's the point?
One last anecdote: The king of Jordan was dying of cancer in a hospital bed in the US. For years, the line of succession had been frozen- King Abdullah's younger brother was to take over the throne after him. As the dying king called for his family in the US, to bid his goodbyes one final time, his younger brother's wife, a Pakistani women and the new queen to be, could wait no longer. The king was to die any moment now so she had her husband's belongings shifted into the main office in Amman where the King held throne. As things turned out, word reached the dying king. The women in her mind had perhaps broken a mere protocol but she had lost her husband the long awaited kingdom. King Abdullah did not waste a minute and proclaimed his son to be the new king. Succession is a tricky thing; don't be in a hurry.
My advice to young men and women at this time of the year: Titles are all about desire. I ask you to aspire.
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