Redefining Success: Ray Chambers
#1 Thing You Need to Learn from this Post:
An awakening is happening within the corporate sector. More people are beginning to reassess the definition of success – personal, professionally, and as a corporation. Ray Chambers can serve as a model for young entrepreneurs striving to make a difference in the world.
A More Detailed Exploration:
Ray Chambers views visualization of his presentation
At the end of February, I had the opportunity to meet Ray Chambers following his presentation at the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference. Of the many highly successful people I’ve met thru my fundraising days, he was one of the most grounded and humble.
Today, the Harvard Business Review published a solid profile of Ray Chambers, lauding him as the model collaborative leader. Go read it if you haven’t already.
Ray comes from a modest background and became wealthy pioneering the leveraged buyout industry on Wall Street. Though wealthy and accomplished when he retired, he confided that he still felt a void in his life and sought the wisdom and advice of various people. Through a series of events, Ray realized that he felt happy and satisfied when he was helping others.
The more he gave, the more he felt fulfilled.
When Matthew Bishop from The Economist suggested he share this new found awareness with his fellow Wall Street colleagues, Ray conceded that most of them were still under the belief that increasing their net worth from $2 billion to $5 billion was the path to happiness. With the recent subprime crisis and other corporate tragedies, I could only wonder at what cost that net worth increase would create.
As I looked around the auditorium at the hundreds of MBA students listening, I hoped for their sake and our collective sake that Ray’s insights could serve as a model and inspiration. Here’s a guy who has turned his energies on helping to solve some of the biggest problems of our day: mentoring disadvantaged youth and now eradicating malaria.
Of the many insights he shared during his presentation, I thought this was most enlightening on a personal level:
Five Not Readily Apparent Steps to Happiness
- Stay in the moment.
- Step back and become a spectator to your own thoughts.
- It’s more important to be loving than to be right.
- Go out of your way to serve others.
- Each morning, write down what you are grateful for and read it throughout the day.
While I’m not one to believe any is perfect, I do believe certain people can offer you an example to follow. Ray Chambers is one person I choose as a guide for my endeavors.
Speak your mind
Who are other people redefining corporate success?
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