Money! If you have it, you’re a worthwhile human being. If you don’t, well, then, you suck.
So says the cultural undertone at Harvard Business School. At least when I attended HBS, there was a subtle attitude of money = worth. You’ve simply got to be an investment banker, consultant, or Fortune 500 CEO, or your life is wasted. No one says it out loud, of course. In fact, many who most deeply embody that thinking would proclaim that self worth has nothing to do with money. Some would actually believe their own denial.

At the five year reunion, the undercurrent is: who’s making how much, doing what? The competition is on! Everyone smiles graciously, while making sure that everyone else knows Life is Perfect and Success Has Arrived.

The ten year reunion, rumor had it, would tone down the hyper-achievement. And so it did. Somewhat. After all, we were just coming off the internet bubble and had several hundred-millionaire-and-above classmates who’d cashed out in the frenzy. So much of the conversation was still about money.
Our 15-year reunion starts tonight. They claim that finally, this reunion isn’t about the money, but about life and family and friends. So this morning, I receive a letter from the HBS development office listing every classmate who gave more than $10,000 and the dollar range of their contribution.Am I the only person in the world who finds this crass and tacky? What’s the point? For low-income classmates to stare at the list of well-off doobies and realize that they (the low-incomers) will never get their name on the Big Board as being a major donor? For people who have served on committees, taken an active interest in the school, etc. to realize that it’s the size of their endowment contribution that counts, not the size of their commitment to the school? Or is this simply a reminder that if you don’t give, you aren’t worthwhile, so give give give, because look how much your classmate Alan gave.

I’ll tell you what. Your worth as a human being is related exactly, precisely, to YOU. You aren’t one bit more valuable because you have, give, or receive money. Bill Gates gives millions to cure maleria? That’s nice, and not to be discounted. But it doesn’t make him a better person. It simply shows that if you’re worth $100 billion, you can give $40 billion to your foundation and still be the richest man in the world. It would be rather like a middle-manager giving $10,000 to charity or to HBS. It gets noticed, but it isn’t exactly sacrifice.

So go build your worth as a human being by being a better one. Find ways to make the world better for your having been here. Find your potential to do something great and go do it. Climb Mt. Everest. Invent renewable, clean energy. Smile at your children. Love your friends.

And for goodness’ sake, if you insist on believing that your worth is related to how much money you give, fine… give it to someone who aspires to Be Themself in a Grand Way. It will go a lot farther than sitting on the wall of an ultra-rich institution, a monument to ego and endowment.

Posted by Stever in Community, Misc