Footprint

And so last Monday I got to the point that I attended my last class ever. This was it. Yet another chapter to close. I remember on many occasions contemplating on what I wanted to be “later when I was older”. It seems that ‘later’ is now.

So has that been my goal? Finding out what I want to be? Is it even possible to find out? And when one finds out, will it be satisfactory? So you want to be an investment banker. You become one. Cool. Then what? Or maybe you want to be an accountant. You become one. Cool. Then what?

To stay in the MBA spheres: you might leverage your strongest capabilities and become whatever it is you decided you wanted to be. Hedge against the fluctuating demand of the job market by picking your profession diligently. Start making good money. Have a cool LinkedIn profile, because you have a cool job. Hence a cool network. Then what? What are you giving back? How will you be remembered? “Jeez, so-and-so sure knew his way with those balance sheets and all”. Hm.

“An organization is a means to an end, not something on itself. Something you build and use to accomplish something else. It only has a meaning in relation to its end, to its purpose”. Monte Hummel was guest lecturing Professor Lank’s Entrepreneurial Leadership class. He added: “An organization is a vehicle to something more important”. So, do we need to find out what we want to be? Or do we need to find out what we want to do? Or maybe even find out what difference we want to make? As Richard Pound, former vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, said when sharing his observations during another guest lecture: “It’s hard to make a buck, but a lot harder to make a difference”.

In our first Managing the Small Enterprise class Professor Lank was talking about how most conversations with people you get to know start with the “What do you do” question. And he asked us to turn to our neighbors and ask them “What do you love” instead. As knowing what someone does, does not really tell you anything. Whereas knowing what someone loves…

What difference do you want to make?
I believe that should be the question we ask ourselves and each other.
But we tend to see time as money, so I guess we prefer to simplify things instead of making them more complex

The only good thing of puberty is that you think you can change the world.
And really believe it.