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“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them.”
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Napoleon Bonaparte
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“Do you admire men of principle? That would depend, I suppose, upon what set of principles you’re speaking of.”
Well. Don’t you find that principles inject an almost moribund inflexibility in the people who subscribe to them?”
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The Hollow Men
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So. This is about ambition (which is good) and principles (which is even better). That said. Let us begin by reminding ourselves that Napoleon crowned himself emperor. Uhm. Yeah. Crowned himself. By that I mean to show he was even above the church <and the pope> instead of having the crown bestowed upon him and placed on his head by a representative from Rome he took the crown in in his own hands from the church guy and placed it on his own head.
My point? THAT is ambition.
As for principals? Liberté, égalité, fraternité: “liberty, equality, fraternity <brotherhood>” — the national motto of France. Or. “Any man aspires to liberty, to equality, but he cannot achieve it without the assistance of other men, without fraternity.”
He drew a line.
Well. Then he redrew the line. And that is the difficulty with ambition. Drawing lines.
Because principles are not meant to be redrawn. They are not fleeting nor casual. And they certainly do not ‘inject an almost moribund inflexibility in the people who subscribe to them’ as one of the opening quotes suggests. Principles are almost like moral guard rails or maybe a foundation upon which represents the ground you stand upon. You get it. Something solid. In a way I imagine that is what character is all about – an inner moral compass. Principles by which to live.
I will also point out character is really about drawing lines. Lines you won’t cross. Boundaries within which you, your soul and pride and esteem and self belief, resides within. Is that inflexibility? Gosh. Maybe. I tend to believe it is more about insuring you keep some sense of self as defined by what is right and what is wrong.
“Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.”
Oscar Wilde
Ok. Try having this discussion <ambition and principles> with young people, say high school kids, and maybe even some young adults entering the work place. This is a very difficult discussion to have.
There is a lot of discussion around how to fulfill their ambitions <and by the way if you have any doubts that kids these days aren’t ambitious or have some very well defined ambitions go to school for a day>.
Anyway. In other words the discussion revolves around how do they get to where they want to go. And this discussion isn’t around schooling or skills or picking a career; it is about principles.
They have principles they just worry <a lot> that the world they are entering does not.
They worry that if they live by their principles, doing what they believe is right and the right thing to do in what they perceive is a ‘dog eat dog’ world, they will get chewed up.
They worry that doing the right thing and having principles will actually hinder them in their journey toward their ambition.
Think about what I just wrote.
I suggest you do so because we older folk spend a shitload of time ranting about the altruism focus of the young … and they want to ‘do good’ and don’t want to ‘do work.’
We are missing the point. In fact we may be missing something we should be paying attention to.
Most young people don’t want to compromise their principles. They are not being dreamers nor are they being Pollyannaish with a perspective to the world, in fact, they are possibly seeing the world better than we old folk are.
They want to work.
They want to run businesses.
They want to be productive and be part of some company <or larger entity> where they can be part of a them doing and making something.
They just don’t want to compromise their principles.
So what do they do? They start seeking opportunities in places where they perceive they will not have to compromise their principles. In fact they are aiming toward opportunities that they believe embrace their principles so much so that they can tout them as some sort of ‘value’ <or justification> in their decision and choice to fulfill their ambition. I tend to believe older people who scoff at the importance of social responsibility in business or the importance of being environmentally conscious take a moment and think about this. Whether it REALLY matters in decision making/choices or not it DOES represent something tangible to a young person to attach their intangible principles to. Is it a representation of “whole cloth” importance? Probably not. But it is like grabbing onto a lifeline from a principle standpoint.
Think about it. This is choice by avoidance rather than choice by true ambition.
Parts of what I am saying are sad.
Sad in that some great young minds which could make the world a better place through business and ideas and innovations … are veering away.
We, as in society & productivity, are worse off because of this.
And we, as in older folk, kind of need to get our heads out of our asses and recognize what is happening. Stop thinking things like “kid, there is a real world out there you are gonna have to face … and you need to pay the bills … so assume some responsibility.” <or some derivative of that>
They are absolutely assuming some responsibility.
I fear that they only believe they can change the world through more altruistic pursuits. And, yes, they are important and good pursuits but from a larger perspective business drives the world. Business makes shit that makes lives easier and healthier and impacts the home and life in ways that it is difficult to imagine let alone outline in a few words. Somehow, someway, we need to insert the ‘believers of principles’ into the business world with all of their ambition and hope … and remind them – and empower them – that they can change the world.
They can make the world a better place.
They can make society and people and lives better.
And they can do it in business … not just altruistic career opportunities.
Look. Young people absolutely recognize that ambition i s good.
And you know what? It is. Ambition doesn’t mean having the biggest title or the biggest salary or the biggest anything, ambition is simply declaring you want to maximize your potential.
Ambition just needs to be tempered with principles mainly because you don’t live in a cocoon so you cannot truly fulfill your ambition ‘without the assistance of other people … without fraternity.’
I imagine my real point here is that ambition is always a personal struggle. It isn’t easy <no matter what anyone says>. Everyone walks a line. The good get tugged toward the side of bad and, yes, the bad get tugged toward the side of good.
Anyway.
This was a sad piece for me to write. Sad in that we have forgotten the power of people and I sometimes we believe the system is driving behavior and success … and worse … principles. And, yet, people build and make up the system.
We older folk appear to cynically view the system as ‘it is what it is, deal with it, or you will lose.’ And the younger people view the system as ‘it is what it is, I don’t like it, I will not compromise’ and they are electing to try and avoid it.
How is that in any way a successful formula for the future?
I began with Napoleon. He was from a relatively humble background on the island of Corsica for gods sake. And he ended up leading France to heights that seem unimaginable.
Did he reach too high and too far? Sure. Absolutely.
Life makes dealing with your principles a constant struggle. The real point is that you can fulfill your ambition & maintain your principles.
I believe we have forgotten this.
We have forgotten how to draw lines.
Well. Maybe the young haven’t forgotten and maybe we should get out of their way and let them change the world with their ambition & principles.