by Darpan Sachdeva
“Great Men have almost always shown themselves as ready to obey as they afterwards proved able to command.”
–Lord Mahon
If you want great Mentors ,you have to become a great mentee.If you want to lead ,learn first to follow.This is one Strategy that has been employed in history by people of eminence like Ben Franklin,Leonardo da Vinci and many more.Apply the Canvas Strategy – become indispensable.
The strategy is called as The Canvas Strategy and has been beautifully reflected by Ryan Holiday in his book Ego is the enemy.
The canvas strategy is an idea borne from the days when artists had rich patrons, businessmen or politicians financing their endeavors. For the artists, they acted as an anteambulo, that is, one who cleared the path. The anteambulo walked in front of the patrons wherever they went, helping to communicate key messages and making the patron’s life easier.
In Roman System ,The famous epigrammist Martial fulfilled this role for many years,serving for a time under the Patron Mela,a wealthy businessman and brother of the Stoic Philosopher and political advisor Seneca.As a young writer in return he would receive small token payments and favors in return.
Now here comes the problem,Like many of us with new entree jobs and apprentice in to new organisations ,Martial absolutely hated the job he did.He some how believed that this system made him slave.He wanted to have money and estate like his patrons whom he served ,so that could live a life one like them and create his work of art freely at his own will.This hatred towards the system is what is seen in the arts work created by him at that time.
Its a common attitude that transcends generations and societies.The angry,unappreciated genius is forced to do stuff she does not like ,for people she doesn”t respect ,as she makes her way in the world.How dare they force me to grovel like this!The injustice! The waste !
This apprentice model has served us for centuries now and has been responsible for some of the greatest work of art in the history -every one from Michelangelo to Leonardo da Vinci to Benjamin Franklin has been forced to navigate through such a system-but if you are going to be the big deal you think you would be one day,Isn”t this a rather trivial ,temporary imposition?
When some one gets his first job or joins a new organisation,he is often given this advice:Make other people look good and you will do well.Keep your head down and serve your boss,they say.Naturally this is not what the kid who was chosen over all the other kids for the position wants to hear.This is not what a new grad from a reputed institution expects-after all they got that degree precisely to avoid this supposed indignity.
Now lets not get it so demeaning.Its not about bowing down,its not about making some one look good.its about providing the support so that the others can be good.In other words find canvas for other people to paint on.Be an anteambulo. Create the path above you and you would eventually create a path for yourself.Apply the Canvas Strategy and become indispensable
When we are just starting out ,we can be sure of few fundamental realities:1) You’re not nearly as good and important as you think, you are.2)You have an attitude that needs to be readjusted.3)most of that what you have read in books and school or most of that you know is out of date or wrong.
The fabulous way to make your way out of this is to attach your self to people and organisations who are already successful,Subsume your identity in to theirs and both move forward simultaneously.Its certainly more glamorous to pursue your own glory -though hardly as effective. Obeisance is the way forward.
That’s the other effect of this attitude.It reduces your ego at a critical time in your career ,letting you absorb everything you can without the obstructions that block other’s vision and progress.
Remember that anteambulo means clearing the path-finding the direction some one already intended to head and helping them pack,freeing them up to focus on the their strengths.
There is an old saying ,“Say little ,do much.“ What we really ought to do is update and apply a version of it to that early approach.Be lesser ,do more.Imagine if for every person you met ,you thought of someway to help them,some thing you could do for them?And you looked at it in way that entirely benefited them and not you?The cumulative effect this would have with time would be profound.You’d learn a great deal by solving diverse problems.You would develop a reputation for being Indispensable .You would have countless new relationships .You would have an enormous bank of favors to call upon down the road.This is reflection of the Canvas strategy and become indispensable.
This is what Canvas strategy is about-helping yourself by helping others.Making a concerted effort to trade your short term gratification for longer term payoff.Where as every one else wants to get credit and be “respected,” you can forget credit.You can forget it so hard that you’re glad when others get it instead for you-That was your aim, after all.Let others take their credit on credit ,while you defer and earn interest on the principal.
When you first enter the workplace, you are hungry, ambitious, ready to rise up quickly in the organization. At this critical time in your career, your ego is high — you then receive a dose of reality — no you have to put in the time. No you do not have enough experience yet. No you just do not have enough projects under your belt. Instead, the best way to get ahead, according to the canvas strategy, is to attach yourself to other successful people in your organization and to essentially ‘copy’ what they have done to achieve their success. Make yourself invaluable to that person.
Align your self with successful people.In other words ,discover opportunities to create their creativity,find outlets and people for collaboration,and eliminate distractions that hinder their progress and focus.It is a rewarding and infinitely scalable power strategy.Consider each one an investment in relationships and in your own development.As a result make your self successful.Apply the Canvas strategy-become indispensable.
Because if you pick up this mantle once,you’ll see what most people’s ego prevent them from appreciating .The person who clears the path ultimately controls its directions,just as the canvas shapes the paintings.
Become indispensable-Become successful ….
