Sunday 3 March 2013

Do senior managers accept higher positions of authority or better pay packets?


Mr. Anoop Sareen,
Senior administrative officer, NIILM CMS writes...

“Everyday I get up and look through the list of the richest people. If I am not there, I go to work.” That’s what Robert Orben believes, the American magician who has authored books and written speeches for presidents of America. Mr. Orben belongs to the class of people for whom the choice between authority and money will be easier. However, for the class of people climbing the hierarchical ladder, the situation will be trickier.

The bottom-line is that the basis of all existence reduces to earning a ticket to the elusive destination of ‘self contentment’. The balance generally weighs heavier on the side where money is the choice; for most of us work to function, not function to work. In layman terms, most of us are busy earning the basic necessities of life than to be placed at a pedestrian of honor and be content with lesser monetary gains. On the other hand, for the social animal power is probably as important as it quenches man’s ever thirsty ego. Greed for status and a position of authority is the source of man’s greatest strength and also the source of his greatest weakness.

So, how does one move towards development? What is the major factor that contributes to it - Money or Power? Not all development is attained by money. Many brilliant minds bestowed with adulations died in dire straits. Their satisfaction lay more in honor than riches. Consider the civil servants in India. They enjoy more authority than monetary riches. But in this time and age of survival of the fittest the question become enigmatic, because at the end of the day the fact that nothing appeases man is the reason for his development. So the question of choice is unable to find the answer as this changing world of development is accommodating new definitions and new words synonymous to power and money. But this is at the individual level, where different perspectives furnish different answers. On a broader picture, each individual works for the development of self and the mass as well, i.e. he cares to contribute. With power come responsibility and the means to work on a larger scheme of things in which an individual can give back to the society a better platform. Aiming for power or authority makes money follow, the reverse may not be true. Authority paints the illusive ‘self contentment’ in more believable tones for one and all.

Strictly speaking, for senior managers the question is no different from its generalized version. After all he is also driven by all that is human. For someone at this level of the hierarchical ladder, going through the grind of being groomed is mandatory. As a student he has made the necessary choices on numerous occasions which might have run into conflict with the morals and his beliefs. It is this environment that helps shape him into an individual who can differentiate between his wants and needs and look at the bigger picture. He learns to develop individually by working for the mass. He is instilled with the right business ethics which instructs him to strive for the balance between power and money and also the values, that authority demands, to set a system for his generation and also the next to come. On an individual level the fight is perspective driven but when it comes to the society of which he is just a part, the question is morally driven.

If a senior manager opts for authority, his ego may often take a hit, if someone of lower authority makes as much money as he does. If he opts for money, he is stumping his growth. A senior manager is not expected to have a parochial mindset when dealing with such conflicting questions. For the generalized definition of power and money does not contribute to the development in general but only in particular. His perspectives put authority in a grim light, restricting its vote, for with authority comes accountability, responsibility and a chance to make a difference by working in larger scheme of things. It eventually also paves the path to better monetary gains. At the individual level more money broadens his definition of basic necessities but at the major level it really weighs lighter than authority. Let’s just say that a senior manager should go way beyond his individual (selfish) interest for if he does, authority gives him a chance to synchronize his perspectives and beliefs to produce music that is likeable to all ears.

Contact the author at: sareen.anoop@gmail.com, asareen@niilm.com 

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