Focus on state not on Status

I happened to hear one of the best discourses of Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda where He talks about “Being in the state” and “Being in the status”. He talks about the students seeking a Guru are focused on the status and not paying attention to the state of the Guru. This particular thought can be applied anywhere not necessarily to Guru-Disciple relationship. This is an eye-opener and this differentiates a true Karma Yogi from the rest of the others.

When you focus on the state and have an eye on the state of the master, it leads to inspiration and ultimately leads to status of the master. On a contrary, if you focus on the status, you become blind to see the state of the Guru. This remembers me a great story of a Guru. A student goes to a great Guru. He asks, “How much time will it take for me to become a scholar”. The Guru tells, “fifteen years. Then student asks, “If I double the hard work”. The Guru says, “It will take you thirty years”. The message is pretty clear focus on the state and not the status.

We can apply the same concept to management without changing even changing it a bit. If one wants to become a leader (otherwise CXO), we need to understand that it is not a position but a state. It is state of delivering, state of accountability, state of being responsible for the stakeholders, state of having highest level of integrity, state of accepting and so on. This remembers me the words of great motivation and leadership guru Robin Sharma “Leadership without Title” where he says that anyone can be leader as it is quality. It is not a certificate or a degree. The phrase “Leadership without Title” is another way of putting “Being in the state, not in status”.

We need to work hard to reach the state and prove so many things on the way, pass so many litmus tests. But once you reach the state, then you do not need to prove to anyone that you are capable. The very nature of our state will make us to act right and the state manifests itself in so many possible ways. The state brings you the status, yet we will not focus on the status.