When Enough is More Than Enough

Imagine attending a party at a swanky home on Shelter Island, N.Y., and overhearing a conversation between Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller, two of the most accomplished authors of the 20th century.

The host is a billionaire, and that prompts Vonnegut, author of such books as Slaughter House Five, to ask Heller a question.

“Joe, how does it make you feel to know that our host only yesterday may have made more money than your novel Catch-22 has earned in its entire history?” Vonnegut asks.

“I’ve got something he can never have,” responds Heller.

“What on earth could that be, Joe?” asks Vonnegut.

“The knowledge,” says Heller, “that I’ve got enough.”

It’s a true story, at least according to a poem by none other than Kurt Vonnegut, and several authors have retold it in recent years. Stanford Professor Robert Sutton, for instance, has a hand-written postcard from Vonnegut giving permission to reprint the poem in a book that came out in 2007 (the same year Vonnegut died). And John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Mutual Fund, used the story as the hook for his 2008 book, Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life.

I was reminded of the story the other day when a friend shared an email from Jon Tyson, a pastor and author in New York. Tyson, writing to men who signed up for his Primal Path ministry, used the story to set up the importance of establishing a baseline for what’s “enough” money in life.

With a nod to C.S. Lewis, who quietly gave nearly two-thirds of his book royalties to charities, Tyson expressed a powerful idea:

If the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,
then perhaps the love of generosity is the root of all kinds of good.

While Tyson was writing mainly about money, it got me to thinking about all the other ways leaders go off track when it comes to never having enough and always chasing more.

What is it in your life as a leader that demands that you pursue more, more, more?

You can rest assured you are heading for trouble if …

• The more money you make, the more money you spend on yourself rather than others.
• The more hours you work, the more you feel compelled to arrive a little earlier and stay a little later.
• The more material possessions you own (houses, boats, cars, shoes, paintings, golf gear), the more you desire the next new thing connected to personal pleasure.
• The more “wins” you rack up, the more obsessed you become with “beating” others.
• The more trophies, awards and applause you collect, the more important new accolades become to your self-worth.

In just about any area of life we can name, it’s important to establish what’s “enough” so that we can find the type of contentment Heller seemed to refer to in his response to Vonnegut’s question.

For real contentment, the answer to how much is enough is always, “Whatever I have.” But it’s not enough to know you have enough and to be content with what you have. As Tyson pointed out, we can take it a step further and say, “Because I have enough … I get to give.” And the love of generosity isn’t just about money.

Servant leaders aren’t obsessed with “having more” of anything other than positive influence. And the way to have a positive influence isn’t by acquiring more money, more toys, more accolades, or more possessions.

It’s by using whatever we’re given to the benefit of others.

That’s something we can do whether we are a billionaire or living on minimum wage. Because whatever we have, it’s enough to position us to give something of ourselves to others.