This is a poem I had written long back - around 9 years back. Revisited this poem today, and I still find it very relevant. Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees and chase the top, while forgetting the true core purpose of why we do, what we do.
I am just a software guy,
Don’t dare to ask me why.
This is not at all about me,
But about the boy,
Who rode the elevator with me.
I was in hotel for a conference,
Where none of the talks made any sense,
I was very interested because,
I can ride the elevator with my bosses’ boss.
Five minutes is all I need,
To present something I want him to heed.
Once the brilliant idea is home,
I can lay my claim for the bosses’ throne.
The stage is set and through my well executed plan,
I was in the lift and in that was my MAN.
Just as the doors were about to close…
A little boy entered with red eyes and a running nose.
I could have gone on…
But something stopped me…
The tears on his face,
Moved a distant part of me.
I kneeled and looked into his face.
The lips quivered with unexplained fears,
The eyes could no longer hold the tears…
“What is the matter”, I asked.
“I was not top of my class”, he sobbed.
I smiled sympathetically and consoled,
“In the end it does’nt matter”, I told.
A silent spark of realization came my way,
I wasn’t different from the boy I must say.
I gallop for the race to be on the top,
And plot for elevator pitches and what not.
Forgetting the sweet simple lesson,
The scores do not matter in the final decision.
Thank God for that wonderful day,
When you pitched me a life’s lesson in a unique way.
Image credits: https://www.recruitday.com/blog/elevator-pitch-dos-donts-and-some-samples-get-you-started