Being content: what my client taught me about ambition and the art of savouring what you’ve built

A director in a large group I’ve been sparring with for three months. He likes his pace, his routines, doesn’t like being pushed too fast.

And I’m irritated. Restless. Trying to awaken something he perhaps has no desire to awaken.

The pivot that changed everything

Until I came across this: in the 19th century, ‘avoir son content’ — the French phrase for ‘being content’ — meant obtaining what you desired. No negative connotation whatsoever. Simply being fully satisfied with what you have.

And suddenly the irritation turned.

Not against him. Against me.

What I was projecting without seeing it

For 20 years as a CHRO, I climbed three steps at a time. Each role, I set things up, built — and wanted to do everything fast. As soon as things quietened, I moved on. Without ever savouring what I’d built.

He had learned something I hadn’t yet: to have his content. Fully. Without apologising for it.

And my irritation at him was mostly irritation at myself — always wanting to take three steps at once, move fast, see more — at the expense of my own content.

What this reveals about our relationship with ambition

I often judge people who ‘settle.’ With the feeling that they lack ambition, curiosity, appetite for the unknown.

But if someone is truly content — fully, without complaint — is that a lack of ambition or a form of wisdom I haven’t yet reached?

These are two different postures, not a hierarchy. The leader who climbs three steps at a time risks no longer seeing what’s on the first landing. And sometimes, that’s precisely where the most important decisions are made.

Climbing three steps at a time — what are you no longer seeing on the first landing?

→ Want to challenge your relationship with ambition and satisfaction? Book a session at manentiel.com