A higher status

Here is an old story.

Mr. Greenberg was an illiterate immigrant, but he worked hard, saved his pennies and started a small business. It did well and soon, he had enough money to send for the wife and children. The work kept him very busy, so he never had time to learn to write, but the bank was happy to do business with him, even though his signature consisted of two X’s.

He prospered and opened more stores. The kids were transferred to private schools, and the family moved into a fancy house (with one staircase going nowhere just for show)... you get the idea.

One day his banker, Mr. Smith, asked him to drop by.

“So what’s the problem?” Greenberg asked, a bit anxiously. Smith waved a bunch of checks at him. “Perhaps nothing,” he said,  “but I wanted to be on the safe side.”

These recent checks of yours are  all signed with three X’s, but your signature of record has just two.” Greenberg looked embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about making trouble,” he said, “but my wife said that since I’m now such a high-class rich guy, I  should have a middle name!”

Well it is evident now that Mr. Greenberg is a successful man, he would crave for a higher status. And it is so funny to know so many successful entrepreneurs today that did not do very well when they were in school. And this may pose a challenge for parents whose kids argue that education is not important, but making money is. Some kids insist that education is not important, and they drop names like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, etc. as drop-outs from college yet are billionaires today.

“So why do I need to go to college?” Most parents do not know how to respond. I had one student asked me the same question and my response was, “Oh yeah! I guess you are right. These guys did not even finish college yet they are some of the richest people in the world today, aren’t they?” And the student would nod his head with enthusiasm thinking that his line of argument and logic has stumped me as he had with his parents.

But then I will say, “But wait...did you ever figure out what schools these billionaires drop out from? ...What? Did I hear you right? You said Harvard, University of Texas, some from Stanford…. and you could not even qualify to enter, let alone drop out from it so shut up, go home, and do your assignment!”

Yes there are school drop-outs who have made it big today, yet when I interview them and ask those questions, they would never endorse dropping out of schools and with their new-found wealth, they do send their own kids to many of the world’s top colleges and universities money can buy.

Mr. Greenberg in our story craved for status. Many of us do.

We all desire for higher status. And the craving for status can turn out to be addictive:

Intellectual status – The main arena here is the academe.

Financial status – They’re everywhere. Look at the unannounced competitions for bigger homes and more luxurious mansions in exclusive residential areas.

Publicity status – “Whether good publicity or bad publicity, it’s still publicity.”

Social status – Rubbing elbows with the rich, powerful and the famous. Imitating their life-styles and hopping that this close association would rub off them and nauseous to those who are in the know.

Physique status – When muscles bulge, the tendency is to wear tighter shirts.

Fashion status –  With Fast Fashion, we no longer give away or donate clothes because some other people need it, but because the clothes we gave away no longer fulfill our social status needs.

Let me give a little commentary on the fashion business.

There was a time when fashion in certain countries like ours come only in two seasons: the warm and the wet or cold seasons. Most countries come with four seasons. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Today because of fast fashion we now have 52 seasons. 100 years of advertising and media convincing us that we need more of everything. We have been conditioned to be dissatisfied. Craving for a “status update” and dissatisfaction is an addiction. Perhaps this is why a lot of people are living from paycheck to paycheck, and a lot more people are just living for the paycheck. 

However, many of the successful business leaders I know are frugal. They had no other options. But they work hard, rise up, they shine and they grind. They keep on learning, and when their success has provided them with the means, their status is automatically updated. In other words, they did not start with the updating of their status but they started with the building of their character that eventually lead them to a respectable level of status. And the most successful among them, especially those who started from the bottom, they shun their “status” but they are, until now, concerned with learning, working and building. That is just the way it is. Their possessions serve their purpose not just as ornaments in their closet of put-on display for people to admire.

One idea to build on for sustainable success is this: always remember that our status come and go, but our character goes with us even to our graves. It is what we really bring with us the day we leave this planet. Others will have to be left behind.

(Francis Kong teams up with Luigi Mapa in a two-day seminar workshop “Leadership That Matters” this June 25-26 at Marqui Convention Center BGC. For registrations or further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy and look for Pauline at 0998-841-7217 or 0917-561-4673)