Success makes sense only when you are greater than it

Introduce yourself in few words…

Nikolai Naydenov - sociologist by education, political scientist by position, anthropologist by way of thinking, lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. I am the author of university monographs “Feudalism and Patriarchy“, “Anthropology of Patriarchal Language“ and “Audience and Politics“, as well as three poetry collections: “Kinship“, “Tibet“ and “Far from Words“.

How would you describe your career in a few words?

A permanent clash with the imperatives of the status quo. The two doctorates, the associate professorship, and the professorship have been achieved despite the resistance of circumstances.

What was the most important choice that shaped your path?

My path has not allowed me to reveal the maximum of my potential. Rather, I would say that I have reached this point “on reserve”. It takes great success for me to be able to talk about some fateful choice. It is easier for me to talk about choices I did not make and for which I am not satisfied with what I have achieved. Still, I would mention two individuals who have influenced my path in science and poetry. (1) In Momchilgrad, where I served, there was an intelligent old soldier, Zlati Viktorov Konstantinov. He was fine and did not have the physical attributes that commanded respect in the army. But he once said something that sounds roughly like: “There is a science whose principles, if I use them, I could make everyone in the company do what I want.” I asked him what this science is, and he said: sociology. The following year, in the applicant student directories of Sofia University, this specialty appeared for the first time, and I placed it first. I was accepted, and this determined my professional development. Much later, I realized that long before I knew about this science, I had been inclined to think in the terms of sociology and political anthropology. (2) As a student, I published three poems in the high school magazine “Rodna Rech”. In this regard, I went twice for consultation with an editor in the magazine (Stefan Mihalkov), who wrote prose but gave me extremely valuable advice on how the synthetic expression characteristic of poetry should look. This not only detached me from the imitations of Bulgarian classics from the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, but became a step that allowed me to reach important personal conclusions about the concentration of meaning in poetry. In a certain sense, the advice of this person is somewhere deep within me to this day.

What would you like to know at the beginning of your career that no one told you?

Academically, at the very beginning of my career, I would have liked to know how to limit a scientific study so that it says the important things in the most convincing way. Practically, after the beginning of the transition, it would have been important to know how to write a research project according to Western standards so that it would be successful. This would have increased my chances of success in applying for some research scholarships in the West and thus for serious academic development.

How can a person understand which profession is suitable for them?

At the earliest age, by realizing whom they would like to resemble (a person from real life or a character from literature and cinema). At one next stage, by realizing which intellectual, organizational, and other efforts would bring them the greatest satisfaction. And at a more mature phase, when they begin to develop in the direction in which they feel they have some social mission and even that they bear their historical responsibility.

Which skills do you think will be key in the next 10 years?

(1) To extract the potential of the global communication network and in particular – of artificial intelligence. But with one condition –  by consistently following one’s own logic of thinking and intellectual development.

(2) To apply the successful algorithm to any situations and areas of activity.

(3) To quickly identify potential sources of profit – a quality that carries risks for morality and honesty.

How to build a network of useful contacts without appearing interested?

By starting from the actual community with others along the lines of interests, ways of thinking, moral styles, etc.

What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career, and what did you learn from it?

Basically, that I did not change my opinion, even if everyone thinks differently or goes in another direction. This was not because I wanted to stand out, but simply because the other point of view did not seem justified to me; otherwise, I would have accepted it. This trait created for me in my youth the image of a lone wolf, but the consequences of this are felt to today. Although I understand the practical damage that this approach causes, I still would not change much in this regard because the truth is a supreme value for me. If I do not see the path to another truth, I would not give up my own. What I would correct in my younger years is to make the defense of my truth more elegant. However, there is one technical mistake I regret. I did not realize in time what I needed to do to take advantage of the academic perspectives for research realization in the West that emerged after the fall of the communist regime.

How to recognize a toxic work environment and when is it time to leave?

The main indicator is the substitution of professional arguments and goals with arguments ad hominem. I personally left without warning my position as senior coordinator at the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Vienna, precisely when the behind-the-scenes intrigues and traps crossed certain boundaries.

What would you do differently if you could start over?

I would start by researching the most emblematic cases of a political system, instead of always starting with an analysis of the entire system, which is labor-intensive, with uncertain success and provokes greater resistance.

How to maintain our motivation in times of stagnation?

In creative fields, it would be good to recall our initial enthusiasm, our high goals, and the success of the steps when we believed in the meaning of those goals.

In practically oriented fields, it would be useful to engage in the necessary technical actions for our work, such as gathering and systematizing necessary information, classifying what we have done and what others have done in the field, analyzing what would happen if we stopped working in this direction. With such steps, a person is very likely to return to the path of success.

How to achieve a balance between professional and personal life?

By not separating from the very beginning one from the other, that is, by not thinking of our professional career as an end in itself. We need to set ourselves in advance that our professional successes ultimately are means to improve our personal life and receive their greatest, final recognition from it.

When is it time to change our career, not just our job?

If the goals are significant enough and require lifelong dedication – never. One of the indicators of such goals is the feeling that they are our personal mission. In other cases, such a radical change is justified when a person has become saturated with what their career has brought them and sees the most valuable in another direction.

If you had to give just one piece of advice to people seeking success, what would it be?

Success makes sense only when you are greater than it. If success overwhelms you, it means you have exceeded your zone of competence and the position you occupy may generate unpredictable negative consequences for you and others. Losing contact with former friends and colleagues, as well as accumulating critical voices, are among the possible indicators that your behavior in the dreamed high position is inadequate.

What is your definition of a “successful career”?

A career that gives the feeling that a person has realized the maximum of their abilities.