Eagle's Nest

Wealth can create an Eagle Nest problem. As wealth compounds, and salaries and capital grow, the target at the end stretches. Not just what we are accustomed to, but the lifestyle to which we aspire. Ironically, unless wealthy parents do give their children capital starts or income support, they are going to limit the life choices those children can make. 

If they want to match the lifestyle of their parents and community, they are going to have to choose from income generating options with kick. You can’t be a dancer, artist, social worker, or anything that is difficult to monetise unless you have outside financial support. If you want a certain lifestyle, you must fund that lifestyle. The higher that is, the more difficult it is to jump from the nest. 

Without a jump-starting buffer or introductions and networks for risky new businesses, you are going to have to choose high-paying (limited supply) STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) professions. The irony is that if your family doesn’t have lots of money and your community does not spend a lot, there may be more options for financial freedom available to you. You can choose a lifestyle that is not conspicuous in its spending. 

When you choose what you value, and develop the areas you find pleasure... you can look towards things that do not cost a lot. High prices relate to scarcity. If you want things most people can’t have, and you are the one paying, that is going to have consequences for the choices you can make.

Bald Eagles

Social Capital

One part of the job search process I do not enjoy is CV writing. As someone who includes “Price is not Value. Salary is not Worth. You are not your Job” as one of his mantras, a CV feels very much like a boastful autobiography. Public Speaking is the best example of where everything works more smoothly when the focus is the content, not the person. When you speak passionately about something you care about, to people who care about it too. Magic. When it is a school oral in front of a class of bored 14-year-old ingrate inmates, no wonder people are scarred for life when they have to present. LinkedIn and Facebook partly solve this, with my tendency to think aloud and befriend strangers. Ideally, as you grow in your career, you are not starting from scratch. You are part of a community. Ex-colleagues, “competitors”, suppliers, clients, classmates and others in my (privileged) network turn it into a team effort. Like the compound interest of investing. Always worth remembering in whatever role you are currently playing.

Tough Crowd

Behind the Curtain

“Equality of opportunity is a political ideal that is opposed to caste hierarchy but not to hierarchy per se” https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equal-opportunity/. To maintain the little man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, you need to create the illusion that the hierarchy is both there, and deserved. The reality is, that even if you caste your hereditary privilege eyes wider than the family and eldest son, there are still limited opportunities. Both in time and space. Roles become vacant only when people leave or die. Teams have limited sizes. Team dynamics make it awkward when someone from the outside is picked (loyalty vs meritocracy). Problems are not defined by how many people want to solve them. They are just priced that way. It is well known that there are plenty of diamonds in storage. The price is high because of controlled supply and manipulative marketing. Give them enough to keep them hungry. It becomes a Game of Thrones when there is only one seat at the head of the table. When you fight for opportunity, only because you want that seat. A seat that does not get relinquished. For equal opportunity, you need more opportunities. For that, you need to be genuinely interested in solving problems. Not focused on keeping your throne warm and diamond-encrusted.

Soutie Begins

When I moved to London in 2008, there were two main obstacles to overcome. (1) Get a Visa, and (2) Get a Job. For the Visa, I used a company called Voyage Relocations. It is possible to navigate the legalities without support. I had friends who did, but I prefer the comfort of someone telling me I have filled in all the forms correctly. As my British wife and I head back in 2020, we are again using support for her Spousal visa process. It was/is nerve wracking sending original documents (degree certificates, passports, driver’s licences). The container for the opportunity to move was Age, Education, Previous Earnings, and English. For the job, I used a company called Acumen Resources. They arranged some interviews, and gave me some support in “How to do interviews”. Like exam technique and time management are the key to Conspicuous Knowledge (education as a signal), getting a job requires performing well in the lottery of CV sorting. I got interviews at McKinsey and Orbis. McKinsey said no, I wasn’t a creative enough thinker. Orbis gave it a lot of thought, but said yes. When I say McKinsey and Orbis, I mean individuals at those companies. Although we talk of the containers we call Companies as if they are people, it normally comes down to single decision makers.

One Foot in the UK, One Foot in SA