Knowing what you want is important-really important.
Until you nail what you want, all of the meetings, all of the training, all of the long hours, all of the self-convincing will be an absolute waste of time. And you don't have time to waste. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by your paycheck, retirement account or the applause of the audience.
The ditches are full of people that could never committ to what they really wanted.
I had a chance to take a sneak peek at a documentary on Nile Rodgers a few weeks back. It was nicely done, even though it was in Japanese. It really didn't phase me because much of the dialog was from Nile. The short can be viewed here.
It might seem an obvious that collaboration and music go together. And as someone who is a musician, I would agree that often the two go hand-in-hand. But what about the rest of the spheres of life and work? Not so much. There was one scene where I found myself thinking"that's it." Nile was working with a group around the production of a Broadway musical he created called Double Time. If you check-out the clip you'll know what I'm referring to. But I was struck by the group's dynamics. There were a few musicians, a vocal ensemble, directors/producers, and Nile. Each of these folks were doing there work individually and collectively. One thing was clear, they were moving toward the goal of a great performance. And isn't great performance what we want?
Have you found some form of collaboration that leads you to a great performance?
In your career experience you may not have found it. And many never do. Part of the problem arises in organizational health and our own misplaced priorities. We don't fully understand how collaboration works and how to get the most from it. Ironically, you might be involved in it and not even recognize it. You have to look for it. You have to want it. The tragedy is found in those who just do it and don't think anymore about it. Routine, habit, monotony are keywords here.
Your career should be about more than salary, benefits and MBOs.
I really believe our best and greatest work comes when we collaborate. It's a key way to leave your fingerprint on this motion picture called "life." But as with all brilliant things, there are the enemies and the threats. Let's review a few:
Money and the Desire to Get More-this one is manifested when our endeavors are rooted in making money first. The emphasis is on the word first. Making money is not a bad thing, unless it is at the top of the list. Greed.
Self-Centered Leaders-these folks have no interest in anyone or any endeavor other than themselves. These types of leaders may mask it, smooth it or even lie about. Their mission is to be King or Queen-first and last.
Our Fear-We all bear some responsibility for the collapse of collaboration. We fear so much and find ourselves unwilling to be vulnerable. I don't need to tell you what a killer fear is. Collaboration is sabotaged when we are insecure and doubt our place at the table.
I have felt most alive when I've been involved in the art and science of real collaboration.
You've heard it a million times; "think outside of the box." Maybe more would do that if the people asking were not invested in the box industry. I used to be more tolerant of the think outside the box admonition. But I've moved to a place where I stop the train if someone tries to put me in a "box" or any other confined category.
I spent a good deal of time in the banking world before moving onto my mission at Epic Living. I was successful in many eyes. And to this day, I still have people who think my life then was nirvana or even better, I should go back to it because I was so good at it. When I tell them how much I loathed it, the inevitable furrowed brow appears.
I no longer take it personally.
The biggest reason people want you in a certain box has very little to do with you. It really is about them. It's much easier to keep order and predictability when a friend or colleague stays the way they're perceived. When someone makes a move outside that zone it produces anxiety, fear and even loathing. Call it a move to protect what they perceive as safe and secure.
Some would say that meaningful work stands in direct opposition to the structure of many organizations-specifically large organizations. I would say it can create havoc. And that might be a good thing.
I know you might be thinking havoc brings destruction and loss. Correct. But the main point is found in how humans are wired versus the often insane motivations of the organization or business model. It seems to me we're seeing the unraveling that is inevitable when the goals of the company run counter to basic human wiring.
We're talking the desire for meaning and meaningful work. Not dreaming with no action, but the core of who we are.
I've talked to many a pragmatists who've told me to be realistic and not get lost in all of the soft stuff. Most of the time these folks are just not willing to see what is very difficult to face. In other words, the train wreck we're grappling with in so many parts of the world. The damage is so evident and many are not quite sure what to do.
I saw this coming over ten years ago, some of you even further back. Now we have a hunger to get life right. In many ways, we want a place where well-being is balanced and intact. Though we're struggling with the aftermath of years of neglect-individually and corporately. It's as if we got drunk on profit, competition and the desire to succeed. And in-turn, we wounded (sometimes mortally) the very group that makes all of the right form of the latter possible.
People.
Some key thoughts on well-being and the choices that connect:
Would you be willing to let work play a smaller role in your actions and thinking, if it meant you could devote more of you to your family?
Would you be willing to make less money, if it meant you would be better able to manage the stresses of life?
Would you be willing to spend less time on watching and following sports, if it meant you could use that time to volunteer in your community?
Would you be willing to change your diet, if it meant you could add 5 years to your life expectancy?
Would you be willing to take a class on communication, if it meant you would have a better relationship with your spouse or partner?
It comes down to your choices. Your life will, and does, reflect that.
I never became self-employed because of some ache to be my own boss or the next producer of a killer app. Far from it, I had a mission and corporate America had no interest or desire to fund it.
Most people I know who are great at entrepreneur pursuits have a mission. I mean they have this burning in them that won't go away. Even after trying to kill it, they continue onto the unknown, scary and sometimes insane world that is the mission.
So in the end self-employment is merely a vehicle.
This past week two big things came down the pike for me. First, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple and Andy Frank thanked me for some unintentional advice. Andy's thank you was the bigger of the two. Andy is working on his "thing" and was lamenting the process of incorporating. I told him that only a mission could make it worth the price paid. It was like holding up a mirror to my own face. A gut check with gusto.
I am on a mission.
For clarity, let me explain my thoughts on the difference between the idea and the reality of self-employment:
In my post last week on the new net-worth, I challenged you to look at net-worth in a different way. I even went as far as to say your life depends on it (in so many ways).
An important thing to keep in-mind is the currency each of us is given in the following 8 areas. Call it life currency:
The currency is with you all of the time, if you haven't declared bankruptcy in any of the areas yet. The irony is you can invest this currency in any way you like. You can be foolish or wise, greedy or giving the choice is yours.
So what if you you awoke tomorrow and no one was interested in your career currency or your money currency? How would your fair? Could you find any currency in your family account or your physical account?
My words could fly in the face of what you hold dear (like your career or social). And in many facets, you won't get any encouragement from your investment house (as in the money variety) or family. You might get objections like "what about your retirement" or "how are you going to support your wife and kids?" Hopefully, you noticed that I've never advocated you ignore those. I am asking you to do just the opposite.
Pay close attention to each of the 8 areas.
The idea here is to adopt integration-every day. Starting small and moving to the big and great.
The following is a re-post of something I wrote over 3 years ago. Had a conversation yesterday with a peer and we still see way too much of this:
Talked to a friend yesterday who works for a large organization with many deadlines and targets to hit. She's a star in the company's eyes. And like other "stars," she tends to get access to places and people that average performers don't. She takes advantage of the opportunity-in a good way. What's frustrating this star is managment's lack of clarity around directives. Management has taken the approach of "need to know basis." That might work at the CIA, but not in an organization made up of performance-workers.
Funny thing about star performers, they demand clarity. It isn't given often with management.
Why the dichotomy? A languishing leadership/management culture as far as I can see. The company may have a viable product, long-standing customer base, and a model that's effective in good times and bad. But getting managers who understand how to lead great performers is tough. Here are a few reasons:
When managers are vague, it creates an environment of vigilantes. Everyone (star performers and bottom-feeders) wants to take control based on how they need to survive. In many ways, the manager has become nothing more than a body in a suit.
Restoring (assuming it was there some time in the past) clarity is vital. To not to do this would be organizational suicide.