The conversation I was looking for ...

Yesterday, I enjoyed the conversation of a lifetime.  For some reason, I connected with a potential mentor and business partner.  The stars were aligned and for the first time in over 6 months I have a very clear sense of clarity and the next steps to take.  There is not much more to say in this post other than I have a new path and am looking forward to taking the next steps.

Remaining Clear

I have shared many times that it is challenging to keep the sense of what you want as a clear picture in your mind.  It is very easy for me to get bogged down in the details and forget why I started this process and where I want to end up.  I would like to share a few tips or my plan for remaining clear through this process:

1) Go back to the visualization exercise I did at the beginning of the process.  I remember that I saw myself 1:1 and that my heart was engaged in my work.
2) Practice sharing what I want to do with others several times a week.
3) Take a risk and put it out there. Again, take the risk and go practice what I am visualizing.  In other words, I have been seeking 1:1 conversations and I am loving it.

My plan is to remain clear even on the cloudiest of days like today.

Thoughts on Detachment

I have been thinking through this idea of detachment a great deal. As I have gone through the exploration process, I realized that these meetings were very productive because I was like a journalist or a third party observer looking for an exciting story to report back on. This process provided clarity or as Seth Godin discussess, I found truth.


As I moved into part 2 of this process, I realized that I lost sight of the truth in that I was no longer a third party investigator, but someone looking to receive. I became attached to an opportunity or a job. This pulled me down into the weeds. There have been various moments of lost perspective.

I love what Seth Godin shares, Page 175 of Linchpin referring to Prajna " A life without attachment and stress can give you the freedom to see things as they are and call them as you see them" He goes so far to share that trying to change what we cannot change is really not our job.


2 Signs of Attachment
* If we are trying to control what others think of us. We expend tons of energy here.
* If bad news changes your emotional state, then you are attached. Godin suggests saying "Isn't that interesting." Move on

Time for travel...

I am looking forward to my trip to Atlanta here in the coming weeks.  I plan to attend the Hogan certification program.  I have been so drawn to this tool and their style.  For one, they seem like the smart ones, who get that personality has great impact on job performance and leadership.  I love their tool as it is comprehensive.  Second, the folks that use it are at the top of their game.  That is where I want to be one day.

Another reason I am excited is that I need a change in scenery.  I think it is time for a new focus and time to move toward the next season in my life.  I really see this next adventure as a hybrid of my first nine years of work and my next five.  The ethereal and the tangible living in a dynamically tense reality, with a cause to help people each and every day!

More thoughts from "DRIVE" : Mastery

This idea of control and engagement is fascinating.  I can look back over my work career and recall times when I felt controlled vs. engaged.  Even those wonderful days at McDonalds as a college student where I was fraught with McCompliance.

I like the phrase that "autonomy leads to engagement." Is it really true that 50% of employees are not engaged at work.  Basically, if you are engaged then the person next to you is not.  Or said another way, 20% of people are actively disengaged.  Monetarily we are looking at $300 billion in lost productivity.  Page 111 of Drive.

My favorite quote in the book was "Figure out for yourself what you want to be really good at, know that you'll never really satisfy yourself that you've made it, and accept that that's okay." p.121 Robert B. Leich Former U.S Secretary of State

Mastery hurts...It takes 10 years of intense practice to become great. Painful, excruciating effort...

Transition Thoughts

Today I was able to process some of the emotional realities of a career transition:

* It is real that you are really in three places at once: your current job, your present feeling of being in the job and out of the job, and finding the future opportunity.
* It is real that this is tiring.  You are meeting new people to help you find the new opportunity, while doing your current position.  That is a great deal to manage.
* It is real that it takes energy to stay very positive during this process.  I am constantly saying to myself that my preferred reality is close at hand and within reach.  I am imaging myself in the new reality daily.
* It is real that when I am about to meet a potential hire, I can sometimes get ahead of myself and think that I am there to get a job.  I am there to be there with that person, not get a job.  That could come if synergy is created and mutual benefit found.

Exciting times for sure and tiring.

What drives you?

I have always been fascinated by individuals who have great drive and motivation toward a cause, purpose or mission.  I think as human beings we are just naturally drawn to people with confidence and purpose.  That is not an overly profound statement, but look at the opposite.  Are you drawn to spend time with individuals who are negative?  What if you favorite sports team is losing?  Sure you will stay with them, but it could be rather painful to watch them week after week. 

What drives people to greatness?  Or said another way what is it that truly motivates human beings each and every day to head off to work and put in 10 hours a day? It could be fear, the boss, the paycheck, a mission, the people you work with, your children, or it could be your parents.

When Dan Pink released his latest book "Drive" I was immediately captured by the title.  It fits so perfectly with this bit of my current journey.  Just to give you a sneak peak, Pink suggests that intrinsic motivation is critical to sustainable success over time.  The traditional extrinsic motivators could actually cause great harm and will not produce the results we want in our lives or businesses. 

Stay tuned for further posts about the subject of drive...