Live is to Choose

My firm is growing, and growing up to be something significant, and so this entry is my reflection on growth and what drives it.
On a personal level, I believe that to live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there. Those things are driven by some self-awareness, as a fundamental, and then some clarity of vision and intent. Without those, you are simply riding the tide instead of rowing the boat.
As the CEO of the organization, I’m coming to see even more clearly that the same principles apply to business. But with a twist. Certainly a firm needs to know who they are, and what makes them unique. So they can tell others and differentiate themselves in the marketplace. But you need to know also where you are going and why.
The emphasis on why is key. People won’t join your team or commit their heart or drive towards the summit of success without that clear intent of why getting there matters. Everyone and I do mean everyone needs to know what they are creating, matters. To my team, I aim to do this visioning work so it moves from this thing that is implied or guessed at, to the vision that everyone feels, owns and embodies in every decision they are making.
Let me know what you think of this observation, will you? [this goes for my team, too] I’m curious to see if you agree.

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  1. Why = purpose.
    Ernest Shackleton placed this ad in the London Times to recruit for one of his explorations: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”
    Why? The purpose in doing and the rewards in winning.

  2. This is a wonderful observation Nilofer. How can someone follow you if you have no idea where you yourself are going?
    It is often easy to ride the tide and difficult to engage and row the boat. Thanks for the encouragement to take the next step always.

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