Are you happy?
My friend Ben Casnocha references an excellent Fortune article on Ram Charan, dubbed "most influential consultant alive, " who has devoted his entire life to business and helping others.
Charan never stops. He sleeps in a hotel every night ("Professor Charan, welcome home," is how the doorman greets him at the Waldorf on Park Avenue), except when he's sleeping on a plane or, rarely, in someone's house, which can happen when a client takes pity on him. "I got in the habit of having him over for Christmas because he had no place to go," says Reed. "He was going to sit in a hotel room. That's hardly right.
No goals? Are you kidding?
What struck me in partcular was this excerpt:
Have I mentioned that Charan has never married? That he has no children? And still I haven't come to possibly the most peculiar aspect of his personality. I mean that which sets him apart from virtually every person he comes in contact with, none more so than his overachieving CEO clients: Charan has no goals. He never set out to become a globetrotting consultant, any more than he dreamed of attending Harvard Business School, or becoming a professor, or even so much as one day earning a living beyond the small city in India where he was born.
Charan must have had some general level goals, perhaps not as specific as "globetrotting consultant." I find it hard to believe that he had "no goals" -- that just seems like too strong of a statement.
When are you going to stop?
Especially in modern society, the pace of our lives is moving faster than ever. People are learning earlier and making greater contributions to society at an early age, putting increasingly more pressure on younger generations to not just perform but outperform. I am a firm believer of having balance in life. Everything in moderation, please. I wonder if Charan ever just gets tired. Does he stop to think about what he perhaps has sacrificed in his pursuit for "purpose before self?" While I admire his dedication, I also am somewhat sad that such an influential person has not experienced all aspects of life. Often times, it's the simple pleasures of life (e.g. spending time with someone you care about) that makes life worth living.
technorati tags: ram charan, globetrotting consultant, work life balance, happiness
Comments (2)
Have you seen Team America? Freedom is apparently worth a buck-o-five. Maybe someone can use that to value happiness. :)
Posted by Anonymous | April 27, 2007 5:44 AM
great read. that kind of jet setting lifestyle has a sort of romantic feel about it, just so long as you can take a break every once in a while.
at the same time, charan might just be ahead of his time, i think his highly mobile, not tied to any one company, way of working is the coming trend.
Posted by albert | May 1, 2007 11:11 AM