Years back as a management student, I always dreamed of being part of a big organization leading brands and visualized myself in C-suite meetings taking strategic decisions that would lead the company and its people somewhere. And fortunately I did get to experience 'the life on that edge' at a very young age.
The naked truth about this kind of professional life is that it is very glamorous and overwhelming, specially for the ones who experience it for the first time. Undoubtedly it is a big time ego massager to be part of this circle, thick salary, five star hospitality and perks like never before . The flip side is that it can be equally fake and draining. Normally these gatherings are planned by sending meeting invites in advance, rolling out agendas and timeline sheets. A clear cut plan is layered where decisions are taken based on number of parameters - mix of data, trends and gut feel. A weighted risk is taken to arrive at some meaningful decision. Life is hunky dory till here. Then comes the bitter reality when people in the meeting starts the race to be the blue eyed boy or girl, who is a superman or woman knowing everything that the planet earth has to offer :).
There is an instant character shift, which amuses me to the core. For e.g., people start behaving the way that would please their bosses, talk things that they themselves do not believe in, laugh at the worst joke cracked ever by some big shot, eat the weirdest cuisine which is beyond their routine, have a sudden fascination for the brands that the bosses like, try to be the coolest, most tech savy and smartest ass in the room.
Suddenly the energy and vibrations take a 180 degree turn. From being grateful to be able to make a difference in thousands of lives to criticising the styling of the person sitting in the next chair, stimulating grapevines about who is going out with who, character dissection of the 'new hottie' in the office and above all focusing all the attention on someone else's line rather than on our own. Somewhere we get carried away in the race and lose the 'real me'. The energy, the innocence, the charm that we brought the first day of our corporate world is left miles behind. The thrive for excellence, manifestation of dreams is replaced with the run to be on the edge of the bell curve.
Question is 'Did we want this when we first entered the corporate world? Is this the real me?'
Jini
There is an instant character shift, which amuses me to the core. For e.g., people start behaving the way that would please their bosses, talk things that they themselves do not believe in, laugh at the worst joke cracked ever by some big shot, eat the weirdest cuisine which is beyond their routine, have a sudden fascination for the brands that the bosses like, try to be the coolest, most tech savy and smartest ass in the room.
Suddenly the energy and vibrations take a 180 degree turn. From being grateful to be able to make a difference in thousands of lives to criticising the styling of the person sitting in the next chair, stimulating grapevines about who is going out with who, character dissection of the 'new hottie' in the office and above all focusing all the attention on someone else's line rather than on our own. Somewhere we get carried away in the race and lose the 'real me'. The energy, the innocence, the charm that we brought the first day of our corporate world is left miles behind. The thrive for excellence, manifestation of dreams is replaced with the run to be on the edge of the bell curve.
Question is 'Did we want this when we first entered the corporate world? Is this the real me?'
Jini
Hi,
ReplyDeleteCorporate has this in theri vein,
see this,
Dissatisfaction leads to frustration is the long run symptoms of corporate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y1EDc9i0oA
Aniruddh
Many thanks for reading and sharing the video.
ReplyDelete