I wrote about the corporate ladder previously; I asked the question of what we are actually climbing in our lives. But what if we are really climbing the corporate ladder? What exactly is that about? What if we aspire to have influence over the business, over something that we had thought was important in life. What difference does it make?
Does it matter whether you become a CEO before 40 years old? Or whether you reached there climbing the corporate ladder as opposed to having founded the business? What do others think of a professional CEO? Would it be better if he had worked the grounds and been in operations? Or if he was just a businessman? Or if he had been some office corporate slave who had been putting together powerpoint slides? What do you need to build that path towards that position?
You probably will need some kind of persistence and tenacity. But what do you lose in the process if you try to shortcut it? Who do you actually care about? Is it about yourself? The problem with any ladders including the corporate ladder is that they are designed only with the individual’s desire to rise to the next rung in mind. It appeals to the self, and reinforces it, making one feel more right, more just in serving just oneself. So how can a person who reached the top by climbing be really trying to serve the earth, or shareholders, or the employees, or the customers? If all his life, he’s just trying to lift up himself. Higher and higher.