Clips of President Obama giving a speech in Johannesburg have been doing the rounds. It has been sent to me several times through different forums and there is a phrase he used that has stuck in my mind. He used the term “Poverty of Ambition” referring to a crop of leaders who have only thought about themselves and in the process amassed enormous wealth many times at the expense of others. We definitely have no shortage of this particular kind of leaders in Kenya. However, it got me thinking. Though many of us have not gone to loot public coffers it is a question we can also ask ourselves. I guess the answer to whether we do suffer from the poverty of ambition would start from how we choose to define ambition or success. Maybe we need to challenge how we were conditioned to think about it.
I recently spoke to someone whose version of ambition was making more money. His response did not have an explanation as to what money would enable him to do. It was just simply more money. In the same speech, Obama alluded to the fact that there is only so much house you can buy, trips you can take etc. He is right. Even if you had all the money in the world, there are only so many cars that will please you, amount of food you can eat and at some point, you will tire of the fake relationships that come your way because of the money.
Ambition in the traditional way of thinking is evidenced by progression such as money, career, building a business etc. That may be part of it but it doesn’t stop there. If our goals only revolve around how great or comfortable our own lives become, then we have not really exploited the potential of our ambition as human beings. So apart from just being focused on money, how does poverty of ambition practically show up?
There are so many people getting up in the morning to go to jobs they hate. They have moaned about these jobs for years and how they would like to move on to something else where they would have more of an impact or even start a business. But they will stay because of the money and more so the social identity it gives them. They will rationalize time and time again why they cannot leave and never do anything even on a small scale to change the situation.
In a different scenario, it could be that you run a business that is doing fairly well. It pays for your lifestyle quite consistently and comfortably. You don’t push the boundaries on what this business would be if you dared to rock the boat a bit. Even to partner, hire people or sell part of the business to people who can help you take the business to the next level. You think certain investments are too expensive yet you will easily spend similar amounts on entertaining yourself or a buying new car.
Maybe you have retired and you are doing nothing. Ambition is not supposed to end at retirement. You have accumulated expertise that can help somebody. You can teach, write, participate in Boards or Committees. Maybe you are highly ambitious on all measures professionally but have neglected to teach your own kids the value of hard work. You just buy them things and wonder later how they became so entitled.
These are just a few examples and once we broaden the scope of ambition we can start seeing for ourselves where we may have placed limits on what we can achieve. I am definitely guilty of a few things and I’m now challenged to change. At the end of the day, I believe true ambition leads to the answer to this question. Whose life have you changed?
The vehicle may be different. It could be through running a home, a business, building a career, serving on a school committee etc. What changed because you were present? Even little things have a huge impact. Why would the organization you work for remember you five or ten years from now? Definitely not because you were gossiping about the boss at lunchtime with other forgettable people. Does the business you are running truly serve and will it be there beyond you? You won’t die with your money so what will you leave your money doing? Will it be left destroying families as they fight over it or will it educate a community? Having money, investments, business, careers, great lifestyles, degrees etc. doesn’t make you ambitious, successful or even interesting. What you do with the resources at your disposal does. So given what you have, do you suffer from Poverty of Ambition?
Through Centonomy we run programs on Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship & Career Growth with registration currently open and ongoing through our website centonomy.com For more information get in touch with me through waceken@centonomy.com /Facebook-Waceke Nduati /Tweet @cekenduati