Success is an iceberg

As I was casually browsing through my LinkedIn news feed, I came across a spectacular image that immediately caught my attention. That image was of an iceberg.

Now, on a normal occasion, I find icebergs neither very appealing nor interesting, but this was not such an occasion. In this instance, the iceberg served as a manifestation of something very important:

That there always an underlying feature, idea, or story behind every single instance of success

Before we proceed to discuss this issue in more depth, let us actually look at the iceberg:

The most noticeable characteristic of this iceberg is that the amount of ice below the water is far greater than the amount of ice above the water. This also happens to be a true fact about icebergs, in case you were wondering. 

However, the interesting discussion here refers to the ratio between how much work one performs relative to the degree of success one achieves. The former is far greater than the latter.

So what does this all mean for us?

Quite simply, it means that the shortest way to success is to take the long way. It means that achieving our goals will take a great deal of time, hard work, failure, and perseverance. 

It means that there will be moments in your journey towards success when matters will become more challenging and difficult. 

Notice also that the width of the ice below the water increases as you approach the surface. This could refer to the fact that, as you get closer and closer to achieving your goal, more and more effort is needed to push through those final few steps when you are getting tired and fatigued. 

That a part of the natural world, such as an iceberg, is so in touch with our struggles and aspirations is fascinating and telling. The value of this image, in my view, lies exactly in its relation with the natural world.

This seems somewhat confusing so let me simplify my point: facing challenges and struggling your way towards success is a perfectly natural experience. In other words, it will definitely happen.

You will fail. You will be placed outside of your comfort zone. You will take risks.

But when you reach the surface, and breath the crispy antarctic air, it will all be worth it.

Visualise your path to success as an iceberg!

Defending Wall Street

Since the Financial Recession of 2008, Wall Street has been labelled as ruthless, reckless, and imprudent. There is certainly some merit in this view. The construction of asset-backed securities, and their misguided distribution throughout the economy, triggered a severe credit crunch, from which we are still recovering today.

Yet such shocks to the system are exceptions, rather than the rule, of the general framework. In fact, I aim to argue that Wall Street (I use the term to universally represent all financial sectors worldwide) is a significantly important part of a successful and healthy global economy. 

Why is Wall Street, and more importantly finance in general, so crucial? The answer rests in the relationship outlined below. Let's say a business identifies a profit opportunity, but does not possess the relevant resources to execute the initiative. How should the business proceed? Naturally, it would seek the help of an investment bank to finance its investment and create value in the process.

Innovative Idea + Finance = Tangible Progress

Any initiative that creates value and improves the standard of living requires resources to do so. It is the role of financial institutions to raise the necessary funding, usually through equity or debt, that enables a business to convert its idea into something tangible. 

In other words, finance facilitates entrepreneurship, which, in turn, serves as the engine of most developed countries. Thus, the beauty and value of Wall Street does not lies in its existence, per se, but rather in its capacity to search for and identify the relevant businesses that require assistance to make their investments happen. 

Note that the argument I have presented here is not at all complicated, even though it is most definitely overlooked. This fundamental role of finance is brushed aside, largely because the reception of finance in the press focuses on currency manipulation, the rigging of interest rates, and other malicious acts.

These harmful activities do occur on Wall Street. Unfortunately, eliminating them entirely is likely to prove both impossible and unfeasible, though reforms, such as Dodd-Frank, and regulators, such as the FSA, have certainly curbed this type of behaviour in recent years.

There is, moreover, an element of non-profit finance on Wall Street. This is the equivalent of the 'pro bono' work that law firms perform to demonstrate their consideration for the society at large. Non-profit finance focuses on initiatives that enhance progress in communities and schools. 

However, non-profit finance is not the main backbone of Wall Street. To fully appreciate the importance of Wall Street, let us perform a thought experiment.

Imagine that Wall Street did not exist, what would the world look like? (It is often easier to appreciate the importance of something by considering the impact of its absence). 

A short answer is this: we would likely return to the primitive age. Any businessperson hoping to change the world could not do so. The visions of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eric Schmidt could not be fulfilled (yes, even these entrepreneurs need finance to give them a boost).

Yes, I accept that Wall Street includes reckless behaviour, but so does Silicon Valley and almost every other industry. Behaving irrationally and at the expense of society if it serves our own interests is a perfectly human feature. 

Let us move beyond these fallacies of Wall Street and finance, focusing instead on their wider impact, which improves lives and creates jobs. 

Emotional Intelligence, it works!

Do you ever wonder why Harvey Specter, the protagonist in the TV series Suits, is so successful in his role as a corporate lawyer? Is it because he has a JD from Harvard Law? Unlikely, since many people have a law degree from Harvard, but not all are as successful as him. Is it because of his handsome appearance and good charm? Perhaps.

While Harvey Specter is a fictitious character, and he is unlikely to closely resemble anyone in the real world, my conjecture is that Harvey's success can ultimately be attributed to his emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is a topic within psychology, and it is becoming more popular recently. It basically refers to the ability to handle one's emotions with care and thought, exercise self-confidence, and persevere in the face of adversity. Since Harvey is able to perform each of these (difficult) tasks very well, we have a possible explanation for his success.

Let us move beyond Harvey now, and consider how thinking about and developing our emotional intelligence could help us become more successful and happy.

To a very large extent, intelligence and hard work are necessary factors in education, the workplace, and in our personal lives. At the same time, however, life is full of tragedies, failures, and other unfortunate events.

Intelligence, per se, does not present a useful way to overcome these challenges: there is virtually no common ground between solving a differential equation and moving on from a relationship break-up. Thus, being able to do the former does not necessarily mean that you can do the latter.

In the realm of the legal world, in which Harvey operates, there are a lot of bright minds, and certainly a lot of hard workers. The distinguishing feature, then, is in fact whether one possesses a degree of emotional intelligence.

The job of a lawyer entails gruelling hours, working with hostile people, and sacrificing some part of your personal life. Being able to exercise self-restraint is, therefore, pivotal in performing the job effectively, not least because the failure to do so can result in a 'breakdown', which significantly hinders one's well being.

The point I am making here is that if you do not happen to be as smart as the person next to you, that does not mean your chances of achieving success are lower. Sure, most entrepreneurs and scientists, who have literally changed the world, were smart and intelligent. But then again, so were many of the ones who did not make it.

Again, the distinguishing feature is emotional intelligence, the ability to remain in control of yourself and refuse to give up when any sign of progress seems nonexistent.

To wrap things up, let me finish with the following:

Emotional intelligence is NOT determined. It is a skill. 

As with any other skill, your emotional intelligence can grow stronger with practice.

Start today. Before losing control and breaking out when things do not go as planned, take a moment to think. Think about your feelings, your state of mind, and how you should proceed from this difficult situation. 

Think about how Harvey handles himself in a high pressure environment and how you could do the same too. 

Think more about your emotional intelligence, and less about 'intelligence' alone. Your emotions are intricate and very powerful. Treat them with care and you will see yourself become a more fulfilled person. 

Dealing with competition

Studying and working in a highly competitive environment can be stimulating on the one hand, and to a large extent, harmful on the other. At secondary school, almost every boy in my year behaved competitively, often adopting the damaging attitude that one's gain only occurs at another's loss.

University life is no different. A friend of mine studying at a top university explained how, when he agreed to exchange essays with his peer, he never actually received the other essay despite offering his own. Having only just started university myself, I am beginning to feel the same thing, which motivated me to write this post. 

Such examples are prevalent at university and similar ones will most certainly appear in the workplace too. I believe I am not alone in saying that this form of 'competition' is a great tragedy and potentially dangerous for our health and well-being. Let me explain why. 

The view that actions speak louder than words is almost universal. If I were to pursue the path of 'cut throat' competition, a signal would be sent to every other person in my environment, and he or she will probably refuse to collaborate with me in the future, and for good reasons too. (Simple game theory, but it's true)

Thus, even if you might feel that working on your own might benefit you in some cases, there will almost certainly be a time when you need the help of others. That help is conditional on offering your assistance when others ask for it, or at the very least, refraining from behaving ruthlessly without much care about the performance of your peers. 

I understand that too much collaboration might serve against your interests. Of course, the number of internship placements and jobs is fixed. Offering extensive advice and support to others, then, could well accelerate their appeal to employers, thereby creating more competition for you.

But what if you also benefit from the process? What if the exchange is mutually beneficial? What if in helping others, more and more people come to help you? What if you become a beacon of inspiration?

Now, admittedly, I have no serious work experience, because I am a student. However, one thing that I do know, from speaking with business leaders and CEOs, is that fulfilling favours in the workplace go a long way. 

Recently, I had the privilege to meet and talk with Vernon Hill, the Chairman and Founder of Metro Bank, also a billionaire. He explained how a key part of his success was that he provided regular favours to his business partners and investors, not often expecting something in return, but usually getting some help, perhaps in the form of capital, that significantly aided the growth of his company.

A more simple case could occur in a nightclub. For example, most people are reluctant to buy you a drink if you ask them. Yet if you buy a drink for a (new) friend, he or she is likely to return the favour later in the night.

The point is that most of us are scared to take the first step. Scared of being exploited or used. I, for one, have been exploited many times. Yet, on many more occasions, I have benefited from reaching out to, and working with, other people, who also happen to be my 'competition'. 

So you have a choice. You can either live in a very stressful environment where you are constantly assessing your competition and finding a way to be the best, though probably being unsuccessful, and more importantly, unhappy. Or you could seek to form symbiotic relationships that delivers a Win/Win outcome. I hope I have convinced you to opt for the latter option. 

What is your standard for success?

Take a minute to visualise a successful person in your mind. What would he or she look like? One successful person might have a sports car, a mansion, and a wonderful set of friends. Another successful person could be a volunteer in a developing country. Yet another successful person might be an ordinary boy or girl going to university.

Success is measurable. However, the standards against which we measure success are different for each and every person, meaning that different interpretations of success exist.

For some people, success is defined by how much income one earns and the total value of one's assets, the so called 'net worth'. This approach has become overgeneralised to the extent that most of us associate a wealthy person as highly successful (and usually powerful).

There is some merit in this view. For example, in order to assemble and maintain such vast wealth and money, one must work very hard, not just for one or two years, but for decades on end. On the other hand, there are cases in which such wealth is either inherited or acquired unethically and without much committment, in which case our view of success might change.

Mike Bloomberg, in an interview, pointed out that, while his net worth is in the billions, that is not the standard against which he judges his success.

Mike said the following:

"As mayor of New York City, I judged the success of the team that I led by the number of lives we saved, the number of business opportunities we created, and the number of young people we managed to send to college."

Savings lives, creating business opportunities, and sending young people to university are not the 'conventional' measures of success, perhaps because these indicators go beyond the individual.

This, then, leads onto the purpose of this post, which is highlight that defining success is a very opaque task, where there is room for much debate and controversy, principally because our views on the matter differ.

The important thing to remember is that YOU define your own success by choosing the standard against which to judge it. Your standard is likely to change over the course of your lifetime and such change should be embraced.

Remain open-minded and choose your standard carefully, for the standard you select often reveals a lot about you.

You are your punctuation

Ted Sorensen, John F Kennedy's legendary speech writer, held the view that delivering a speech and writing a sound essay were virtually the same thing.

There is simple formula to follow in each case:

1) Tell your target what you are about to tell them.

2) Tell them.

3) Tell your target what you told them.

While the content of a speech, such as the type of evidence used, will differ from that of an essay, the structure of each narration is largely similar according to this approach.

Back in secondary school, I employed this method when writing my history essays, usually to great effect, achieving top marks.

However, when delivering a speech, a wider awareness of how the audience interprets what you are saying is important.

Understanding how an audience might listen to or engage with a speech starts with the fact that there is no punctuation for them to spot. The end of a sentence of speech, when delivered, does not include a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark. Similarly, there are no commas or semi-colons to identify.

Instead, you, as the orator, are your own punctuation. Your tone, body language, movements, and eye-content all serve as punctuation when giving a speech.

To deliver an effective speech, then, you must employ your punctuation arsenal, varying your hand gestures to emphasise a particular point, or walking in the opposite direction when changing your line of argument.

Using your voice and body in different ways when giving a speech should aid the content of your argument. The reason being is that auditory memory is usually inferior to visual memory, meaning that even if your audience forgets part of what you said, they are likely to recall on your specific body actions to remember the point you were making.

So if you're a great writer, there is no guarantee that you are also a great speaker, without first being able to use a form of punctuation effectively. The last point to consider is that, just as a writer adapts her writing when targeting different readers, so should a speaker adapt his speaking and gesture techniques when targeting a different audience.

Remember, your voice and your body are your punctuation when giving a speech.

About time, the past, and our memories

Time is confusing for all of us. Hurtful moments in the past, such as the break-up of a relationship, the failure to achieve a personal goal, or the loss of a loved one, are difficult to get over and remain deep in our thoughts for a long time, if not forever. We've all been there; I certainly have.

Positive memories can also elicit sad feelings. As we refer back to these happy moments in the past, we may cry out, asking why, most of the time, these memories are difficult or impossible to relive in the present or the future.

Thus, our thoughts and memories, whether positive or negative, hold a firm place within our minds because they have had a powerful impact on us in the past. We should accept this fact.

Thoughts and memories, like an idea, are highly resilient, and once they take hold of your brain, they are difficult to eradicate.

Now, I am not suggesting that we should go about eradicating the memories that often cause us harm, because these memories are also beautiful and special to us. Yet we should be careful in how we interpret and register our memories, trying to let go of the ones that hold us back.

But how?

The answer lies in first understanding that each unique thought is incredibly powerful, like a philosophical idea such as democracy, freedom, or justice. To fully comprehend this point, remember that people are more willing to fight and suffer for an idea or vision, than for things such as money, fame, or popularity. 

Replacing a powerful thought is only possible if a more powerful one can take its place. 

This point captures the essence of letting go of the past: focusing your attention on incredible opportunities and ideas standing in the present or those yet to appear in the future. 

Let me share a personal experience to elaborate. At the time of my relationship break-up a year ago, I was completely heartbroken, literally. All I could think about was how I would ever recover and if I could love someone special again. Sounds dramatic right? 

Over the following months, I focused on fulfilling important purposes based on ideas: tutoring 'A' level students from underprivileged backgrounds, helping them succeed in their exams; travelling and experiencing South Africa; and working as a researcher for a non-profit. 

During these wonderful, yet intense, experiences, I completely forgot about my break-up: one idea had quickly replaced another. So here's the messages to take home: 

1) Time heals wounds in the past, so be patient.

2) Open your eyes to the present; there's so much you can do!

3) Reach out to friends and family to release your feelings; you will feel relieved of a great burden. 

4) Remember that your memories and thoughts are incredibly powerful, so treat them with great care.