All of us are looking for ‘security’. Many of us have become even more conscious of security after the recent Ahmedabad-London air crash. There have been other accidents as well in the last few years. And the kind of security we will look for is dependent on our own background and experiences. After all, we are all products of nature and nurture.
Some of my friends have cancelled trips, and are now reluctant to travel by air! They fear flight accidents, or even hijackings, and feel it could even happen to them. They look for security on ‘terra firma’. They do not think it is much easier to meet with road accidents, either as a driver or as a pedestrian! They perceive they have security in a car. Although the statistics show that far more people die in road accidents than in air accidents.
A friend met with a car accident in Goa recently. The car overturned after a collision with a truck. The car was a wreck but my friend was saved and got away with only a few fractures because he was wearing a seat belt. Ever since, my wife has insisted on wearing a seatbelt in the car. For more than ten years, she was equally adamant about NOT wearing a seatbelt, because she felt uncomfortable using it. She was now looking for security.
From 5am, many of the elderly and some of the young wear their shorts and walking shoes and walk at a fast pace with a determined look in their eyes. They are following the ‘doctor’s orders’ and buying the security of good health.
My friend Anil bought double insurance after his minor heart attack. In addition to a three-mile walk in the morning, he now also spends an hour at the health club at the gym in the evening!!
However, many of us in the corporate world really talk about security in terms of ‘job security’ - and therefore financial security for ourselves and for our families. This is not surprising, even more, in an environment described as a ‘recession in the global economy’. This is further aggravated by business process reengineering (BPR) and automation; by the immediate effects of a liberalised economy; and the intense heat generated by global competition. And the question is - can one be really secure?
I will venture to say NO! All of us can take action to decrease our insecurity level, but we cannot eliminate some fears that will linger!
There are those who seek security through following the concept of loyalty. But their ideas of loyalty are very vague and often with the wrong emphasis. Many put the greatest stress on loyalty to the boss. When the boss leaves the company, the subordinates are left orphaned. They seem to have lost their security umbrella! In the modern age, loyalty is a difficult and controversial subject.
The first loyalty should be to yourself- not in a selfish, overpowering way, but in a manner of investing in yourself through continuing learning, both formal and informal.
The second loyalty is to the assignment. Doing what you are paid to do. Or, in fact, doing a little more than what you are paid to do. This is a commercial transaction. You sell your services, and the company buys them. If they keep getting value for money, the buyer will always want you. If you provide much less value than the price, the connection between the two will become very tenuous.
The third loyalty is to the company, because you ‘do not bite the hand that feeds you’. It is a matter of surprise and shame to listen to the way some employees talk about the company they work for, while at the same time, ‘eating the company’s salt’ as they will say.
And the fourth loyalty is to the boss who needs support, advice, and assistance. After all, he is the boss. But he is not and cannot be the first loyalty (as happens in many cases).
A proper priority of loyalties will be the first step to building a sense of security.
There are those who feel secure in the knowledge that “they know what they know and what they don’t know is not worth knowing”. They stay in a groove - well used and predictable. Like most people, they do not try to operate at higher levels of using their brains (it is estimated that most of us do not use more than 10% of our capacity) nor do they try to find out what else they can cultivate capabilities.
My friend Trevor retired from the Indian army as a lieutenant colonel after having served his term. He was always passionately fond of dogs. It was difficult to keep pets in the past, because of frequent transfers. Now that he had a permanent base in Pune, he decided to breed pedigree dogs. In a few years, he built a large business. Perhaps, he earned much more than he did in the army. He had converted his passion into a profession!
Another friend Felix, who retired after 35 years in a nationalised oil company, took to growing roses in his backyard in a Mumbai suburb. In just five years, he built this into a large horticultural company employing nearly 200 people!
And Highway Gomantak restaurant on the Western Express Highway in Mumbai, where one has to have a table reservation in advance to avoid disappointment, was started by an employee of Glaxo who was forced into retirement with a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and had to quit the company before he was 45!
Cyrus Vance gives a list of eight values for an executive. One of them, which is relevant here, is that “no one in the entire world owes you anything”. Not your friends or employees or teachers or even parents! They may do something for you out of a sense of duty or a sense of responsibility, or even a sense of charity.
The moment we accept that they don’t have to do anything for you, the burden becomes much lighter. We no longer expect reciprocation from others for favours we might have done in the past. We no longer curse the company for not being loyal to us in return for our long services. We do not expect symbols of gratitude, perhaps not even expect a ‘ thank you ‘. If any of these are preferred, then we are or should be happy. If not, then we are not disappointed. Such expectations only make us unhappy. The other person remains ignorant of, and immune to, our feelings and therefore totally unaffected- neither glad nor sad.
Such an attitude developed during a lifetime gives one a great sense of security- it is dependence on one’s own self, rather than dependence on others!
There is, of course, much more to say on this subject of security for oneself, which, perhaps, we will do another time in another Moneylife column.
You may also want to read other articles written by the author. Here is the link
(Walter Vieira is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of India - FIMC. He was a successful corporate executive for 14 years, capping his career as Head of marketing for a Pharma multinational, for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka- and then pioneered marketing consulting in India in 1975. As a consultant, he has worked across four continents. He was the first Asian elected Chairman of ICMCI, the world apex body of consultants in 45 countries, in 1997. He is the author of 16 books, a business columnist, international conference speaker and has been visiting professor in Marketing in the US, Europe, and Asia for over 40 years. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award for Consulting in 2005, and for Marketing in 2009. He now spends much of his time in NGO work - Consumer Education and Research Centre, IDOBRO, and some others.)
