Yesterday I received a call from a professional, whom I had successfully placed as CEO with one of our clients a couple of years ago. He said, due to some organizational conflicts, he had to resign from the current assignment and now he is desperately looking for a suitable opportunity.
"No issue, it's my job and I would try my best to identify a good opening for you."I said.
However, he reminded me about an incident that I had long forgotten: Few years ago, when he was at the helm of affairs, I asked him for a small professional favor. Forget about extending the help, he stopped responding to my calls and later he sent me a SMS for not bothering him any more.
Where is he today? Back to square one. But why?
My take on this issue is as follows:
When you become hugely successful in life, the first change that takes over your originality is a selfish sense of achievement. An achievement, that you feel is entirely due to your hard work and none has contributed to making it happen.
Gradually, at some point in time, you start believing that the process of becoming and remaining successful is irreversible and you would continue to be there where you are now. Eventually, you start ignoring those connections at ground zero who laid the foundation of your success.
Finally, you start strengthening the wall that separates you from the rest of the world - making you a secluded entity - and you start losing those true relationships that hugely contributed to your achievements.
I have seen a lot of people in my professional life who had through the same process, and most of them, like my ex-CEO friend, came back to the level where they started their journey. Because, they disconnected themselves from the ground where they begun their journey towards success.
So, even if you are a hugely successful personality now, never detach yourself from ground level connections, because, who knows, you may need their help again.
Image: Kumawat1 on Flickr
Re-posted.
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