Gandhi’s Professional Disaster
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known by his honorific Mahatma, was one of history’s greats, certainly a towering figure of the twentieth century. By profession he was a lawyer, but he wasn’t particularly good at lawyering.
His first case, in his own words, went like this: “This was my début in the Small Causes Court. I appeared for the defendant and had thus to cross-examine the plaintiff’s witnesses. I stood up, but my heart sank into my boots. My head was reeling and I felt as though the whole court was doing likewise. I could think of no question to ask. The judge must have laughed, and the vakils no doubt enjoyed the spectacle. But I was past seeing anything. I sat down and told the agent that I could not conduct the case, that he had better engage Patel and have the fee back from me. ….. I hastened from the Court, not knowing whether my client won or lost her case, but I was ashamed of myself, and decided not to take up any more cases until I had courage enough to conduct them… There would be no one so foolish as to entrust his case to me, only to lose it!”
Great cross-examiners have the nimble mind of the hunter, the instinct to know where the witness has been and where he is going, the talent to lead the witness down an alley from which there is no return. Gandhi did not have such a mind, nor do I. Much like Gandhi, I eventually became adequately competent at cross-examination, but only at the cost of inordinate time and effort. It was never artful, always a chore. In the language of appraisals, cross-examination was not our “highest and best use”.
As we know well, Gandhi had other Giftings, much more powerful. He was one of the great visionaries of the twentieth century with an unequaled talent for organizing, motivating, and moving the unmovable. His central doctrine of nonviolent resistance ultimately unraveled the world’s largest modern empire and led to the independence of India, now the world’s most populous country, as well as Pakistan, whose population in turn is approximately the same as that of the United States. Together they account for about 20% of Earth’s population.
Gandhi’s professional disaster led directly to his decision to move to South Africa to try again. There he struggled to become a moderately capable barrister, but soon discovered his true Giftings, leading political movements to get Indians the same rights as Whites. It was in this time that his understanding of the human condition was shaped, as well as his instinct for turning the weakness of a population into strength, the water that wears down the rock. By the time he returned to India twenty years later he was fully formed as an instrument for change.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with Gandhi’s politics, one can’t deny his talent. But what’s more important for our purposes is the fact that what set him on his unintended path as the leader of his nation was a humiliating disaster. Had he been even moderately successful at his first cross-examination, the curve of history might have been far different.
Many young professionals crash into the wall in this or that endeavor. A few of them dig deep and find the necessary Gifting is there, but just needs polishing. More just work their hearts out to become competent, but never great, spending their lives just “going to work”. And a few, by thought or by guidance or by luck discover other Giftings, unique Giftings for which the world is crying. And for them, as they say, “the rest is history”.
My passion is working with young professionals trying to find their way, and those who are just “going to work” every day. Know anybody like that?