Category

Inspirations

May 04
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The Naked Truth

By Inspirations, Strategic Thinking 3 Comments

The best ideas, and the truest epiphanies, come to you in the shower  (or so ‘they’ say.)

This morning, I noticed that I held my breath for a moment as I washed my hair.

A new client has given me the opportunity to join a team helping a small business launch a line of organic, toxin- and silicone-free beauty products. Our role is to help them craft a strategy to go from startup to success – to help get them  from where they are to where they want to be. At the conclusion of the first meeting, the team was sent home with sample sized versions, to “see for ourselves.”

I really like the business owner. She’s passionate and genuine, and her product seems to be compelling, legitimate, and fit a need in the marketplace. She’s got incredible energy, a great story, a vision, and is willing to do the work. She knows she needs help. As I poured a quarter-sized dollop into my left hand, I realized that for me, it was the moment of truth.

What if I hate it?

What if it smells funny? What if it leaves my hair feeling limp and disgusting? (One of my few true vanities is my hair.)

I chastised myself for being overly dramatic; I made quite a ridiculous picture standing there stark naked debating this dollop of gel in my hand: “So what? It’s shampoo. There are a million.  If you hate this one, there are others.”

… but my job is to help THIS one.

I found myself whispering a little prayer that it would lather.  As the bubbles formed beneath my fingers, the tension in my shoulders eased and I took a deep breath. I was palpably relieved when the scent of the shampoo mixed with the steam was a pleasant herbal – citrus, the resulting effect a kind of aromatherapy sensation. I’m pretty sure I have never paid that much attention in the shower in my life.

I’m not arguing that every piece of work we do has to be an all-encompassing, life-fulfilling, purpose-driven one, but rather proposing that (for me, at least) I do my best work when I care about, believe in, and like the people / products I’m working with. I recognize how fortunate I am to have a career that has provided me a wealth of opportunity to work with products and industries I genuinely like, doing work that makes a difference in the lives of individuals who I care about.

There are only so many hours in the day, and so many days in a lifetime, a number which none of us can know. Can you pour your heart , effort, and your most precious resource of time into something you don’t genuinely like or believe in?

Some people can: they believe in the process or art of what they do without necessarily finding a kinship with or liking the product, company or person itself (criminal defense attorneys, for example, representing a distasteful or possibly-guilty client – but believing in the bigger picture of the justice system). Others can’t detach their personal self-identity from the specific people & products they choose to work with.

Can you?

For me, the answer came in the shower.

Photo credit: Alex France

By the way,  the client here is anonymous, in keeping with the ‘Rules of the Game’. 

Apr 20
Love0

Wouldn’t ya like to be a Bubba, too?

By Inspirations 2 Comments

I’m not a golfer. But if I were – (or maybe BECAUSE I’m not?) – I’d be a heck of a lot more inspired by Bubba Watson than by Jack Nicklaus or Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods (ahem.)

Golf has universal, published, indisputable rules of the game. It’s a magnificent way to teach the concept of ethics to kids (what do you do when you’re not being watched?). You learn the rules and you play by them. Simple, right?

But beyond the specifics of the rules, there’s also a rich tradition in golf. A ‘way it’s done.’ Decorum. Elegance. Ritual. Expectations. (You know this if you’ve ever tried to go to a country club in cutoff jeans & flipflops.)

Bubba is self taught in an industry where that “just isn’t done.” He’s a lefty – one of only three to ever win the Masters. People have said, “Oh, Bubba plays by his own rules.” He doesn’t, though. The rules are the same for everyone. What he does, rather, is play with little regard to the traditional path of finding success; he eschews the common approaches others have used to achieve greatness.

In every business, there are rules (taxes, regulatory compliance, shareholder reporting, etc.) and then there are the ‘ways things are customarily done.’ As I look out across the landscape of true innovation right now in events (peer retreats vs. old-school associations, TED, Ignite, SXSW (before it jumped the shark)), in consumer products (SPANX, i-almost-anything), in online communities (Pinterest, Instagram) – the success stories are being written by the Bubbas. Those who say, “well, I see the commonly accepted path, and that’s fine for them, but I’m doin’ it my way.”

(image credit: Mike Segar/REUTERS)

Are you great at something?  Bubba is. But he didn’t give in to the push to walk a traditional path to prove his greatness. He didn’t look at the odds against a self-taught left hander, he just followed his gut. That green jacket is on his back today largely BECAUSE he wasn’t on the traditional path. Don’t imitate him (it wouldn’t work) – rather, take some courage from his playbook to be your own person. Actively cultivate a trust in your own instincts. Stop listening to the very-loud voices that say you ‘should’ do it this way or that way. Those voices would have you believe that there’s only one path to success, and it’s a well trodden one filled with things like swing coaches, professional services, advisors, right-handed players, etc.

Be a ‘Bubba’: Swing wildly. Be authentic. Follow your spirit to the place where your passion and your uniqueness intersect.

And even if you aren’t in the proverbial green jacket at the end of the day, you’ll be the authentic version of yourself, which is the best prize of all.

(Photo credit: Header, Scott Liddell, Inset: Mike Segar/ REUTERS, as seen here )