CEO SPEAK Of Fears & Dreams
Ex-Microsoft chairman Ravi
Venkatesan on breaking the shackles of success
At this time a friend gave me a copy of Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and it seemed to speak to me. It turns out that in every culture, the hero's journey follows a predictable pattern. The hero becomes dissatisfied with his lot in life and receives a call to plunge into the unknown. The hero who accepts the challenge faces many trials and tribulations. At the most precarious moment, help arrives from unexpected quarters. If the hero survives, he often obtains a great gift or "boon." The hero must then return to the ordinary world with this boon but faces challenges on the return journey also. But he eventually returns triumphant. Every person is the hero of his or her own life so I gathered the courage to set out on my big journey. Turning down several similar CEO jobs, I simply decided to make a leap of faith and leave Microsoft without a clear idea of what I really wanted to do.
Campbell was right. My journey over the past two years has been thrilling. There are indeed incredible challenges with the biggest ones being those in the mind. There are unpredictable twists and turns. People appear magically in moments of need. But ultimately, if you persevere, you do get to a happier place.
Although I am still on the journey, I have made considerable progress towards creating a new, more fulfilling life. I have always enjoyed writing and have completed my first book titled Conquering the Chaos which shows global companies how to succeed in India and other emerging markets.
I joined the Boards of three very interesting companies, one in Europe, one in the US and one in India; these provide some of the intellectual engagement that I need. I spend a day a week advising a friend who runs a well-known family business and also work with a couple of startups; these too provide intellectual engagement and a lot of satisfaction. Along with some others, I helped start a venture-philanthropy driven organization called Social Venture Partners India that is growing rapidly. (see www.about.me/rvenk) I finally have the time to do things I enjoyread books, listen to music, visit interesting places, and interact with lots of people. If there is one thing that I am convinced of, it is that many more people could have so much more- more excitement, more impact, more complete lives- if only they would be willing to confront their fears and experiment. In the rest of this article, I will reflect on my experiments and learning with the hope that some of it might resonate and be helpful to you.
STORIES AND EXPERIMENTS
Fear and confusion. As I said, these are the twin enemies that must be overcome to build a new life and a new career.
I discovered that fears arise from "stories" -powerful, hidden subprograms that are in the subconscious mind and end up defining how we think of ourselves and what we allow ourselves to do in life. We are usually unaware of the stories in our lives. For instance, I found I had all kinds of nonsensical stories about what success means. Stoked by media and the company around me, I had gradually come to define success as being the CEO of a large and important company, frequently in the media, seen at places like Davos and with a net worth of millions. Conversely failure meant being obscure and "irrelevant". So deep was this 'story' that I was terrified of walking away from Microsoft. We each have
different stories and limiting beliefs ("I can't possibly be an entrepreneur", "Who in their right mind would pay for my advice?", "I really don't have any marketable skills") that define how we see ourselves and what we allow us to do. This is what prevents us from being our fullest selves and from living a much more happy and rewarding life. We have to go deep within ourselves and uncover these stories and beliefs and gradually reprogram ourselves.
If fears arise from stories, confusion seems to stem from lack of information. We simply lack information about what we might be really good at, what opportunities might exist out there, what things might give a sense of purpose and versus other things might merely be enjoyable. I might think that what I would really like to do is head a large philanthropic Foundation. But would such a Foundation really be interested in me? What does the work really involve and would I enjoy most aspects of it or is it just some fantasy I have that would quickly become irksome if I were to somehow land in such a role? I discovered that there is really only one reliable way to answer these questions and that is by going beyond one's comfort zone and conducting many experiments.
Experiments that reveal more information about the world and about yourself, experiments that validate or refute assumptions one has about the world and self. The reason why there is no reliable alternative to experimentation is because if your mind is anything like mine, it is creative, cunning, fickle and unreliable. (Mahatma Gandhi came to a similar conclusion a long time ago; read his extraordinary autobiography
"My Experiments with Truth" in which he describes the disciplined manner in which he conducted and reflected on experiments his entire life)
Take a question like "What is really important to me?" My mind can make up lots of textbook answers for all these questions but which aren't authentic - they don't really reflect who I am. For instance, I can say "I want to be healthy and really fit"… but the truth is different; this is not really a priority. While I intellectually understand the importance of good health, the reality is that I want to do the barest minimum to avoid serious ailments and pains. Being able to run a half marathon again, wear my suits from 5 years ago and so on aren't really that important. This is why simply thinking about these questions, meditating, or even talking to others is unlikely to provide real breakthroughs. You have to try many things and see what fits and what doesn't.
Building a new professional life is a lot like starting a new business as an entrepreneur. In fact, you are becoming an entrepreneur except that your new venture is not a new business but in fact a new life. There are many questions and many uncertainties. For instance, will you enjoy teaching? Will you be any good as a writer? Can you get paid for your consulting service? It's extremely hard to think your way to success. You need to
experientially navigate and feel your way forward and that means trying many different things and learning from these experiences. You need to systematically conduct "experiments" that will reveal both your true self and the real opportunities around you?
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