Make Meaning in what you do

Just imagine, working in a senior position in a large IT company in a major metro with considerable name, money, respect and responsibility. Alternatively, imagine another scenario. You work all your waking hours to establish yourself all over again in a completely alien environment, no one to question you, not sure whether your hard work will pay off, not many understand or appreciate what you do, with absolutely zero assurance of any credit to your account on the 1st of the following month.

Does this saga sound familiar? It sure does as all those who leave their well-paid jobs to start their own ventures with a dream to live their life a little more beyond the walls of a corporate job and soar the vast sky of possibilities, trying to make a difference, have more or less the same story to relate. I am no different. As an entrepreneur, I have had my low and high times - sweat, agony, frustration, excitement, freedom, pride, and sense of accomplishment.

My beginnings were humble with bare minimum resources, the journey from college to corporate with warm wishes of many people was smooth and with an attitude never to give up and sheer persistence, I probably could reach the advisory board of any organization in the corporate world, but then what next? What about the rest of the summers I would live?

The economics of big business, the politics of big economics, the combination of short lived success and long standing failures or otherwise, the humiliation and celebrations of life, the ups and downs only sharpens your focus to take that plunge you have been wanting to take for a long time. And I did, with a little bit of coaxing from my son.

My background, my understanding of the challenges to get industry ready work force with the right behavioral skills, allowed me to believe that I could be the architect for a better India in my own way. India being a 1.2 billion people country, average age of 26, with rapid urbanization, millions of capable and educated young people who had the potential, could be empowered to be leaders, thinkers, apart from being just breadwinners. Though, tough, I chose the road less traveled, out of my cozy cocoon of corporate comfort and ventured to a start-up!

The benefits that my corporate job offered me by default does not interest me the way it did earlier. Today, Blue Tiger, which I founded with couple for friends works, with a simple vision to assist people live the best of their lives and enjoy the beautiful journey called life with the core principle “Life is Simple, Keep it that way!”

I now understand why I was approached by this NGO to write a blog – It is not because of who I am, what my degrees are, where I worked, what label I carry, how influential I am, who I know but what I currently do. Which automatically leads me to believe, would they even bother to call me if I owned a wine shop or a casino or probably if I remained stuck to my old job? Is my work affecting anyone in a positive way was their only qualifying criteria?

They were so sure about my competence in writing that they asked me to write the blog without bothering if it fits their NGO’s agenda. They assured me that my blog would certainly drive one of their key messages  – Social Impact in what you do!

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Author Profile:

Sampath Iyengar is CEO and Chief Coach at Blue Tiger, a platform for excellence through learning, with 25 years of corporate experience. He is an avid reader, well traveled, fitness monk and a long distance runner.

Life is Simple, keep it that way.