Motivation

We landed the biggest deal in company history.  Not only was our sales goal reached for the first time in 4 years, but I was to receive a nice bonus check along with the opportunity to provide nice bonus to my colleagues.  I remember this like it was yesterday.  I was excited about what had happened, yet inside I was deeply saddened.

I thought to myself, I put my heart and soul into this huge deal and yet it was not a fulfilling or rewarding experience.  Sure, I knew that we were truly helping a group of people and a company, yet I knew that I was not truly happy.  The work was not connected to a sense of cause deep down inside.

As I shared in a previous post, the financial rewards typically do not trump work that is meaningful, connected to your cause and is an overlap of who you are.

Ponder these questions:

* If you are accomplished in work that you are not feeling strongly connected to, then imagine what it would be like if you were and imagine the impact thereto.
* Does the six figure income hold you back from the work you know you were intended to create or do?
* What about certainty? Can you handle living in the unknown for a season or more so that you can be deployed in the service of others?
* What does happiness really cost?
* Why does America and Americans in general seem to promote an agenda that is all about security and less about adventure?

Seriously!

Importance of Transition

What do you take with you when you travel?  Obviously, there are things that are non-negotiables, the socks, the toiletries and clothes.   There are things you take with you when you transition in work and life.   Even more important is what you leave behind, that helps others carry the baton.

I realized today that I am taking with me seven exceptional years of great experiences and learnings.  I am also very aware of the importance of making a strong transition and here is why:

• I will pack relationships.  These are foundational to life and work.  I want to make sure I thank the people I have worked with over the years and share the story of what is next.  I do not want to forget to "pack" the people that I have met along the way.

• I will pack gratitude. Gratitude helps put closure on the season in your life by taking stock of all the great learnings and positive achievements.  Thank the people that have helped you along the way. 

• I will leave behind a strong transition plan, which includes the story of the client work and a proper handoff to the staff that will service the clients I have served for 7 years.  I have offered to stay available 30 more days to make sure nothing is missed. 

• I will leave behind words of encouragement to those I have worked with.  It seems that I have a greater sense of urgency to have that tough conversation or tell that person how exceptional they are.  I am also giving some unsolicited advice.  For example: I told a co-worker that she needs to go finish her college education.  

This is a great time for reflection and a great time to focus on the vision for the future.  I leave with a  heart of gratitude and plan to pack those relationships with me.

Emotional Leadership

Anxiety is real. Anxiety can be your friend as it helps your mind know that danger is nearby and could help you avoid a tragedy or accident.  Anxiety or the strong interest to be anxiety free can move you to make decisions that are not helpful to you or others.  

A leader will no doubt experience anxiety. It is the management of that anxiety that will influence his / her followers.  When was the last time you made a decision that would avoid uncertainty and decrease anxiety?   Yet in the end, what was best for you and your team was to be decisive not an avoider.  

Manage those emotions and better yet, know how those emotions are directly impacting your ability to lead with decisiveness.  As I shared before, America, companies, families, children and employees are counting on you to stay inspirational.  A micro-manager does NOT inspire.  They retract leadership and retract productivity.

The Ego and The Heart

The ego longs for the approval of others, the accumulation of stuff and to measure ourselves by achievements.  These three A's can wreak havoc on the heart.  Let me expand on these ideas below:

The need for the approval of others is a trap that can completely derail your course.  It is like a drug, once you get the approval of a person you can be tempted to make it your cause.  It is also incredibly selfish.  A life is lived ultimately for the service of others.  If approval is your motive, then ultimately you are serving yourself.

The accumulation effect creates the facade that we are what we own vs. we are because we are.  In essence the profundity of this ego foci is that security and transcendence comes through the gathering of things, which ultimately only temporarily provide us what we need or want.

The achievement trap really creates an inaccurate measure or method to use to compare my achievements to yours. If I have achieved more or mine created a bigger impact than my worth must then again be greater than yours.  The absurdity here is that all of our collective achievements either for good or evil count and enhance lives.  Instead think of your life as energy being expended for the good of others.

This test will test my mettle to make sure this is about service vs. ego building.  I encourage you to recognize the Three Deadly As in your life and find ways to connect to service and others.

Test The Theory

For the next 12 months, I am going to test the theory regarding work, passion and interests.   It seems that the career mavens, passion gurus and leadership brains believe that one should follow the aforementioned items and the results will follow.

I am going to take them up on this challenge.  I have committed to pursuing the three areas that have the greatest intrinsic value to me and see if positive results follow.  The three areas include career development, leadership coaching and emerging leaders.  I commit to my readership that I will start my own business with full heart and energy and on 4.11.13 report back to this blog with the results.

I will test their theory and I will document my findings.  This all started back in 2009 when I ventured off to explore my heart's passion through a massive career exploration process. What resulted was a picture of a cause which centers around helping others find their own cause and become the best possible leaders in the their work and life.

Book Review: Lance Secretan

I have found another favorite author. Lance Secretan is a leadership maven and a heart guy. He dismantles the thought that leadership is only about financial metrics, making tough decisions and getting people to do stuff.

Instead, Lance proposes that leaders have heart, passion, values and are inspirational.  In fact, he would go so far as to say that leaders need to inspire others regularly.

Here are a few highlights from the book "The Spark, The Flame, The Torch":

• The greatest gift a leader can give his/her followers is to inspire them
• People need to be developed and they are counting on you to do it
• People will leave you if you do not take time to help them get to where they want to go

A couple of my favorite quotes:

"Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Albert Schweitzer

"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being" Carl Jung

"We are leaving what Time magazine called "The Decade from Hell," and there is a yearning for a new beginning, an opportunity to create and enjoy a brighter future- A Decade of Meaning and Fulfillment"

It is time to create the decade of meaning and fulfillment for others.  America is counting on it. 

Mentoring and Perspective

This past Friday I enjoyed a great lunch with a friend and mentor.  I continue to use the word perspective in each of my conversations with him.  Perspective according to Webster's is really about the state of one's ideas at that point in time.  In art, as the picture illustrates, perspective is an effect brought about by distance.

My mentor provides perspective because he has been on the earth for about 30 years longer than I have. He has had more of the major experiences in life and is able to draw on his learnings in each one of my life situations.  He can then share those perspectives with me.

What do I gain from his perspective during this time:

• Calm: I gain a sense of calm that someone else has been here, survived it, learned from it and it resulted in a greater sense of purpose through the transition process.
• Knowledge: I am able to apply his learnings to my situation, even if not all of the situations are applicable.
• Stay Present In Today: I learn that this is important no matter where you are at in your life stage.  The people in your life today need you to be you because that is your greatest value. 
• Give Yourself Permission To Journey:  Life is truly a process. Life is not the destination. We are not here to get to a destination.  The journey is the destination.   

I hope this perspective has been helpful to you in your journey.  It sure has been helpful to me.