I'm sure you've heard of people getting to leadership positions and coming up with a first 100 day plan of action, going through brisk activities to get things done, thus setting the tone of their leadership style. However, the book, 'Chasing Daylight' is about the last 100 days of Eugene O'Kelly's life. This is his story; at the pinnacle of his life at 53 years, chairman and chief executive officer of KPMG (US), he discovers he has brain cancer and has only 3 months to live.
The book describes Gene's plans as he prepares for the final reality of death. In this last discovery, Gene realises that plans do not always work and you accept reality for what it is, that living in the present, not in the past or the future, is what matters, and that family, friends, colleagues are priceless.
Having crossed the 50s, I am now in my sunset years - the last couple of years before retirement. Lately, working late hours is not a priority anymore. I want to be home with my family as soon as I can, not prolonging my stay in office beyond time and taking care of what is absolutely necessary. We have been blessed with a son, our fifth child, who is ten months now. Nothing gives me more contentment than the pleasure of having him in my arms, his smiling face, his soft small arms around my neck, holding on to me. This is bliss at its best.
I still remember those early years of my career, working late, getting things done, never home until 8 or 9 night, and a patient wife waiting with our first, infant son. And of course too tired to listen to her endless banter of how our son had done this or that during the day. Yes, in the pursuit of a career, I had missed out the enjoyment of being with our eldest son.
Why am I writing this? It is all about finding a balance between the demands of work and life. We usually tend to weigh heavily on the work side. Mamun Rashid, Country Head of Citibank NA suggested the idea during a recent meeting, that today's young professionals are bent on achieving results and that they tend to side-track their personal life.
What is happiness or contentment? Is this an elusive pursuit? I was interviewing a sales colleague for a promotion and I asked him to relate a success story during the course of his career. I was taken aback at the maturity of his answer. He said that success has different meaning to different people. Normally sales people will talk about success in terms of achieving their targets. For him success was different and he went on to narrate an experience that was profound in its achievement, and had nothing to do with sales.
Happiness and contentment too have different meanings for us, individually. However, we need to build up our awareness of our existence, and to be grateful of what we have. We need to live our life day by day and enjoy the gift of living. How would you spend your time if you were told, like Gene, that instead of the 10,000 days of expected life, you had only 100 left?
You would then realise how precious each second is, and try to seek contentment in each of the seconds that tick by. It wouldn't be worldly possessions you will seek, you will seek your close and dear ones, to be with them, to share those moments of your life. Why do we need a rude awakening to realise what is truly important in life when it is right there, in front of us and somehow we are blinded in our pursuit of the world?
In this fast paced technology based world, I think we need to be careful about technology: use technology to simplify life, and not be an addictive slave to it. Don't believe that the next berry coming your way, or the next vista will simplify life; it may complicate things even more, unwittingly stressing you out.
In these sunset years, as the hair turns silver, priorities change. You begin to think beyond your career and more of the legacy you will leave behind. My immediate priorities are to ensure that our organisation is ready to accept the next mantle of leadership, that we become the learning organisation I always dream and hope that our people grow in strength in their knowledge, skills and character, ensuring the care of our customers and outwitting and outplaying our competitors. And of course, as you accept age gracefully, this adds on to my personal happiness and contentment. What more can you ask?

The writer is the managing director of Syngenta Bangladesh Ltd.