S
I read this recent mail by a graduate of one of the best business schools in India(IIM-A)... Set me thinking on what are goals/objectives/visions/missions.... I am all confused now. Anyway, I think the writer was talking about a goal in life rather than an career objective. And objectives would have been as to how he would have arrived at the goal. Any way a thought provoking article and an enjoyable read....Any thoughts on the excerpt below. Any clarity on vison/mission/goal/objective??
/Sayee
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"Makarand Sahasrabuddhe (PGP-1994)
A few months back some of us from the 1994 class got together. We were meeting after a long time and naturally the discussions went late into the night. We were all well into our careers and our jobs were perhaps the most important things in our life. Naturally most of the discussion was centered on what we were doing professionally. At one point someone got started on the question of 'career objective' and then we went into a CP mode with each person describing what (s)he felt was her / his 'career objectives'. The list was quite impressive, as was to be expected, and included
1. Reaching the top of my profession.
2. Become the CEO / President / Vice President etc of my organization.
3. Build my own organization specializing in ___________.
4. Making millions.
5. Working in a challenging environment.
6. Working so as to continually upgrade my skills.
7. Earning the professional respect of my superiors, peers and subordinates.
8. Working across functions like finance, marketing, strategy, HRD, systems etc
These objectives were very diverse and we tried to analyze these to find out whether there was any commonality. That is where the depression set in. We realized that
Objective # 1 was perhaps not realistic since only one person in the world can be at the top. In any case none of us could really define what we meant by 'top of the profession' and what were the indicators that we could use at the end of our careers to establish whether we had achieved the objective!
Objectives # 2 and 3 were perhaps realistic for some of us. However, eight years into our careers, we had not been able to decide on 'what organization' or 'what specialization'.
Objective # 4 was more concrete but we were unable to answer "Make millions - for what?" All we could come up with was a list of material possessions that we wished to acquire.
Objectives # 5 to 8 were the worst. They could not even be classified as objectives. They were more like processes.
We were a miserable lot when we broke up. We realized that each of us spent between 1/3 rd to of our lives dedicated to building a career - all without a clue to what it was all for. I was reminded of what a friend in the social development field said to me once - "Profession without mission is like prostitution".
I was faced with a number of questions that apparently had no answers.
Is there any way in which I can avoid this trap? Can I not have a mission in life: like the medical professionals who are bound by the Hippocratic oath to save human lives by using their skills and knowledge? How can I make my professional life worthwhile?
I was, to put it mildly, disturbed enough to spend time in evaluating what I really want. I read up a number of books I felt could give me an answer. I discussed these matters with senior people from various sectors - corporate, government, social development and even political. This interaction was and continues to remain an enriching experience. I have realized that these answers cannot be obtained from external sources: they can only come from within oneself. I, therefore, decided to go the whole distance and try working out what I must do. My experiments over the last few months have at least given me some direction and enabled me to take some concrete steps.
I do not profess to have magic bullet solutions. Through this piece I wish to share the process I went through with you all, especially our younger alumni, who can avoid a lot of heartburn by merely thinking their lives through.
At the outset it is necessary to find out what makes you tick at an emotional level. Find out what kind of life you would want to be leading in the future. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in a cool, critical way. After all this is a self-improvement exercise. Close friends and colleagues can also help in this exercise.
Analytically work out what you need to do in order to achieve your vision. A career with a well-defined purpose will only enable one to enjoy ones works and avoid early burn out.
/Sayee
=================================================
"Makarand Sahasrabuddhe (PGP-1994)
A few months back some of us from the 1994 class got together. We were meeting after a long time and naturally the discussions went late into the night. We were all well into our careers and our jobs were perhaps the most important things in our life. Naturally most of the discussion was centered on what we were doing professionally. At one point someone got started on the question of 'career objective' and then we went into a CP mode with each person describing what (s)he felt was her / his 'career objectives'. The list was quite impressive, as was to be expected, and included
1. Reaching the top of my profession.
2. Become the CEO / President / Vice President etc of my organization.
3. Build my own organization specializing in ___________.
4. Making millions.
5. Working in a challenging environment.
6. Working so as to continually upgrade my skills.
7. Earning the professional respect of my superiors, peers and subordinates.
8. Working across functions like finance, marketing, strategy, HRD, systems etc
These objectives were very diverse and we tried to analyze these to find out whether there was any commonality. That is where the depression set in. We realized that
Objective # 1 was perhaps not realistic since only one person in the world can be at the top. In any case none of us could really define what we meant by 'top of the profession' and what were the indicators that we could use at the end of our careers to establish whether we had achieved the objective!
Objectives # 2 and 3 were perhaps realistic for some of us. However, eight years into our careers, we had not been able to decide on 'what organization' or 'what specialization'.
Objective # 4 was more concrete but we were unable to answer "Make millions - for what?" All we could come up with was a list of material possessions that we wished to acquire.
Objectives # 5 to 8 were the worst. They could not even be classified as objectives. They were more like processes.
We were a miserable lot when we broke up. We realized that each of us spent between 1/3 rd to of our lives dedicated to building a career - all without a clue to what it was all for. I was reminded of what a friend in the social development field said to me once - "Profession without mission is like prostitution".
I was faced with a number of questions that apparently had no answers.
Is there any way in which I can avoid this trap? Can I not have a mission in life: like the medical professionals who are bound by the Hippocratic oath to save human lives by using their skills and knowledge? How can I make my professional life worthwhile?
I was, to put it mildly, disturbed enough to spend time in evaluating what I really want. I read up a number of books I felt could give me an answer. I discussed these matters with senior people from various sectors - corporate, government, social development and even political. This interaction was and continues to remain an enriching experience. I have realized that these answers cannot be obtained from external sources: they can only come from within oneself. I, therefore, decided to go the whole distance and try working out what I must do. My experiments over the last few months have at least given me some direction and enabled me to take some concrete steps.
I do not profess to have magic bullet solutions. Through this piece I wish to share the process I went through with you all, especially our younger alumni, who can avoid a lot of heartburn by merely thinking their lives through.
At the outset it is necessary to find out what makes you tick at an emotional level. Find out what kind of life you would want to be leading in the future. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in a cool, critical way. After all this is a self-improvement exercise. Close friends and colleagues can also help in this exercise.
Analytically work out what you need to do in order to achieve your vision. A career with a well-defined purpose will only enable one to enjoy ones works and avoid early burn out.