The Phenomenal Scope to Excel

As young graduates just out from business school, we hunted for jobs that had a great ‘scope’ in terms of career growth and monetary benefits. Many of us had come to the business school in the first place as starry eyed seekers of monetary success.

“If you join a bank you must not work in the support departments because you won’t be able to switch to a better bank some years from now”.

“Don’t do an MBA in Finance. The Chartered Accountants will outshine you.”

“An MBA Marketing is better than a Finance MBA, since there’s more room to move around and grow”.

These were the kind of statements that were flying around us at that time. And amusingly I still get to hear them.

“Should my son opt for medicine or engineering? What has more ‘scope’ in it?” I am often asked similar questions.

My own view on the matter might be contentious. But the fact is, my own perceptions of what had more scope and what didn’t, had and continues to have little to do with my happiness as a person  today.

No experience is a waste provided you see meaning in it and configure your life’s direction to the meaning appropriately. You keep expanding your scope to achieve happiness and fulfillment based on the meaning you see in your experience. The more you try to define your scope, the more you’re limiting your phenomenal capacity to excel.

I am not exactly the example of a star performer that parents would ask their children to emulate. I made mistakes too along the way but kept following the direction that seemed exciting to me. I took pathways that apparently had little scope, but they appealed to me and today I am content with what I learnt from every place. Lessons that are not taught in a typical business school. My experiences have been diverse and yet they continue to help me in my work today. They make me who I am. Why must I define, pre empt and narrow my scope by following a career path that is believed to be better over others? If one must do meaningful work, than any work that one does can be meaningful.

After an MBA in Marketing, I started working as an advertising agency executive with a small advertising firm. I worked there for 3 months and left despite needing a job badly. The experience taught me the most invaluable lesson of not to work under fear, not cowering before bullies, of taking a leap of faith when you seem cornered by your real and imagined fears. I cherish the lessons to this day.

I then joined a publishing house as an Assistant Editor. The wonderful time spent at the publishing house sharpened my writing and editing skills which are useful to this day. The experience made me learn the practical usefulness of staying away from malicious gossip at work. I made wonderful friends and continue to benefit from their enormous talents. I used to get energized from intellectual discussion with other editing colleagues. I got to read some of the finest books by Pakistani authors. I made friends from people with diverse backgrounds including international authors and began appreciating the common human values within diversity. Could I have pre empted this when I was still in the university?

The next stop was at the bank as a Process Improvement Manager. I got to interact with top management, make decisions, empower new people under me, improve the processes of the organization. This all the while, when I worked from a tiny support department of Quality that many had not opted for, since there was no ‘scope’ in it.

The bank brought me self confidence mostly. I made more friends there who still continue to bless my life experience. I carried techniques and tools with me that can help improve any organisation’s processes. Could I have pre empted this?

Subsequently, at a university I designed a Life Skills course that was a delight to research for. I poured over motivation literature from around the world and was enamored by universal wisdom from so many sources. I learnt other things here too… the importance of networking, of getting rid of your egoistic identity for the good of the organization, of the fact that being powerful at work comes from the soundness of your work and your sincerity in benefitting others from it and mostly that its best to stick to principles and to hear what appeals earnestly to your heart!

The last organization where I worked before joining Schuitema was instrumental in making me understand how people make or break an organization, how it’s immensely important for the organisation’s progress that the management must trust the workers and vice versa. I realised that even an illiterate worker can gauge the malevolence or benevolence of the leader’s intent over time and that the leader sitting at the top determines the conduct of his people primarily through his own. I saw that organizations only excel when the leader makes it his business to genuinely care for his people. And that you can’t go far with a self serving worldview whether you are sitting at the top or working down under.

All my experiences so far have made me who I am. All that I have treasured so far continues to benefit me. All that I have forgotten about no longer serves me. The cumulative experience in terms of job skills and life skills continues to expand my scope. I don’t view my journey so far as an aimless drift but rather an enablement that keeps equipping me for newer tasks and challenges. I may not be making pot loads of money, but I am happy and fulfilled to be where I am.

My work today energizes me. It continues to grow me as a person, fulfills me and makes my life more meaningful. It makes me feel young!

photo credit: C.K.H. and kevin dooley