Lighting the Fire Under One’s A**

When we “put our best foot forward”, do we take a stand on our purpose or just waver our foot in the air struck by indecision in what we envision?  This is a hard question to ask, and in many cases, to face.  All of us have things that we believe in, things we wish to pursue, and things we wish to accomplish.  While there are many studies and thought leaders who will point out that fear will hold a person back from taking action, we often come across individuals who have a passion for what they strive for.

As a project manager, I occasionally deal with passionate people – the one’s whose goals are on the line, the people who want to ensure changes occur and, on the flip side, those who want to stick by what they currently do.  Being involved in a volunteer leadership position, these are the people that are passionate about the future, those who bring new ideas to the table and again, on the flip-side, those who want to stick by what they are familiar with.  In my personal life, these would be the people who champion causes, pursue career ideals, strive for strong family and relationships, and yes, those that protect what they have.  Even the most cool, calm collected person must be passionate about something.  There should be a fire that drives them from day-to-day.  We have all met people that seemingly have no desire, but to live out the day, that suddenly excel in something – something they have found a passion for.

Easiest example, which we have all experienced, is vacation time.  You have waited years to go on that one special trip, to go to that place that you have dreamed about going to, to act out the plans you have worked on.  The daily routine of life has a chance to be put on hold.  As the day comes closer, you wake up quicker in the morning with the expectation of the departure date.  You seemingly zip through the work that needs to be accomplished.  You talk about the upcoming excursions and all activities, and somehow life is aligned to making this happen.  A passion has been ignited, which leads to enthusiasm and motivation which otherwise might be dormant.  It is a HUGE natural rush! 

Here's to finding the things that ignite one’s passion, leading to the ability to achieve greater things and, of course, finding the drive to make things happen!

I Could Have Been…

After David Cassidy died, his daughter revealed that his last words were, “so much wasted time.”  Darren Hardy tells the story of his father’s friend, one that pursued building a real estate fortune, where during his final visit in the hospital before the man died, he said, “I missed the point.”  Then there is the story about a man who was asked at the end of his life if he had any regrets and his answer was, “I wish I was the man I was meant to be.”

When the end of our days come, will we stand on that final doorstep, looking back at what we have left behind, feeling regret for passing up opportunities leading to non-accomplishments, or be satisfied with the output of our actions, personal dreams and goals that will define our lives to the loved ones we leave behind?  While morbid in thinking of what our final moments and thoughts are going to be, as I get older, I am beginning to think that I would rather start to answer those questions now, as opposed to later.  Many years ago, when I struck out in my own business, one of the answers I gave for doing so was that I did not want to one day look back and say, “I had the opportunity to do this and did not.”  We all know people who have said, “I could have done…”, or “I was approached with something that could have become…” 

While I think that we spend part of our time and brain power to figuring out what other peoples’ expectations of us are, we need to spend time on our own expectations, which means we need to identify our own potentials.  We have all met people in our lives, whether casual acquaintances, family, friends or celebrities, that were talented, but crashed and burned.  For example, we used to know a guitarist who was extremely talented and was able to position himself into playing with a real touring band.  However, he was a heroin addict who lost that extremely lucrative gig.  I realize that drug addiction is an illness, but there are still choices that we make that either put us in front of harm’s way or help us to avoid the pitfalls that can trap us.  The last time I heard about him, he celebrated a positive success by falling off the wagon.

In Charles Dicken’s classic story, A Christmas Carol (whether you have read the book, seen any variation of the movie, or refer to the Mr. McGoo special), Ebenezer Scrooge had the opportunity to witness his own eulogy.  If we had a chance to watch those final words being spoken, would they be the words that you would want / expect to hear?  Will they reflect words that state that we lived up to our potential?  Or just went with the flow?  While Scrooge is a fictitious character, he recognized his failing, saw the impact of his ways, realized his potential and made the necessary changes to achieve a better outcome.  While we live and breathe, we all have the opportunity to live meaningful lives and to write the stories that future generations will tell.  This way when we stand before that last exit door, we can step through knowing that our time here was worthwhile.

The Importance of A Team

Somewhere in life, someone once said to me, “You need to downplay your strengths and develop your weaknesses.”  I was young at the time and took this as sage advice.  Of course, striving to develop a weakness into a strength made sense, but I was unclear about downplaying what I was good at.  If I was a solitary individual, reliant only upon myself, then yes, working on improving not so good skill sets would be appropriate for survival.  Last I checked, I am no Henry Bemis (from the episode Twilight Zone episode, “Time Enough at Last”), so I am surrounded in an active world filled with able people.

Based on years of grappling with this, if I have a strength in some area, I should work towards honing that skill set.  I know that there is always someone better in that area; however, within our subject matter expertise there is always room for improvement.  For some of the weaknesses…I think that I might not want to spend valuable time on something I might never become proficient in.  Using music as an example, I chose to teach myself the banjo.  I already know how to play guitar (rhythm not lead), so I have some knowledge / familiarity with that type of instrument.  If I decided to play euphonium, that would be a big challenge, as I do not currently know valve-based brass instruments.

If we can build on our strengths, how can we overcome our (real or perceived) weaknesses?  Let us now enter the concept of working in a team, where one person does not have to have ALL the answers, nor need to constantly attempt to learn things that are beyond their abilities (not to be confused with stepping outside one’s comfort zone).  With the right team in place, each member can leverage each other’s abilities, compliment skill sets, and provide a broader based team to tackle most obstacles.  While we know the names of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, etc., the truth was that these iconic leaders surrounded themselves with people who had the abilities that they did not.  Henry Ford is attributed with making the statement, "I am not the smartest, but I surround myself with competent people."

I have been in Project Management for about 20 years.  I have had the opportunity to work with programmers, implementation experts, application specialists, and people with business area expertise.  While my background is Accounting, it was important to learn other related areas of business and technology.  By working in a team, with people who have various skill sets, I have been part of successful teams, both providing my skills and learning others.  Not to dissimilar from playing in a band.  The guys I play with play different instruments and have different, yet similar, backgrounds.  Together, by listening to each other and complimenting each other, we are able to produce something greater as a whole than as individuals.