In our LEAD class, we were made to read a bunch of 10 year and 20 year memoirs of the HBS Class of 1976. The ensuing discussion in class was thought provoking. We went on to desribe our personal take on 'what is success'. It was an almost touching experience to hear how my very accomplished classmates measure success. And let me tell you it wasn't just coming to HBS or getting awards.
One said his immigrant grandfather taught him that true success can be measured by how many people attend your funeral. Because when you die, people don't owe you anything, except for respect. Another said, success cannot be achieved if you pursue success. Instead if you pursue happiness, success will follow. Yet another said that maybe success is not just about yourself and is actually about striving for the success of others. I wont go into mine, because I think anybody who reads my older posts can pretty much get a sense of it. In fact, someone had written my thoughts better than I had ever did almost a century before me - It was Kipling with his poem 'IF'.
People brought in many personal philosophies into the discussion that made it very touching. Some refused to comment, or share their goals in life, some talked about them openly. I think this was the first entirely meaningful, sans-buzzword, sans trying-to-get-class-participation-credit, sans-faff class i have sit through at HBS.
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