This morning I walked my dog along the sandy banks of the Saco River and sipped a cup of tea before heading to the office.
Sometime in the early afternoon I will leave the office for an hour or two to complete today’s portion of my twelve-week triathlon-training program. When I return to the office I may bring my laptop to the table on the porch and throw the ball for the beloved Boston Terrier as I work on logistics for an upcoming event I am coordinating.
I work for myself and regularly forget the decadence of a morning like the one I described. The details of that day get lost in the less appealing aspects of self-employment.
On the days when the balance is shifted in the other direction, I may drive 300 + miles, clock 14 hour day, sleep in bed that isn’t my own and answer emails from the front seat of my car. My head will fill with worries about getting it all done, paying my health insurance, growing the business too fast or not growing at all.
On those days the cry of a consistent paycheck, a benefits package and the hum of a typical schedule is deafening. Those are the days that have reduced me to a puddle of tears more then once.
I don’t think this struggle goes away when you work for yourself. There are always going to be well paying jobs with a benefits package and a regular schedule to raise the question of whether the good days are valuable enough to persist when the hours are long, the future is uncertain and you feel like you are working alone.
Recently I was riding my bike with friend and mentor**. As we made our way up a steep climb the voice in my head escaped for a moment, “Urgh, this hurts!”
He calmly looked at me and asked, “Uncomfortable or unbearable?”
I thought for a moment. “Uncomfortable.” I answered
“Good,” he replied firmly “keep peddling.”
**Thanks to PD who is 20 years my senior, has the cadence of a hummingbird, the legs to out-sprint me and wisdom that extends beyond the bicycle.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Why Not India?
I wonder if at some point the shock of snow in mid-April will wear off. When you live in Northern New Hampshire 3 – 5 inches of cement falling from the sky apparently often follows 75-degree days in early spring.
Shortly after dawn this morning I left my house, battled the weather and drove South to a conference in Manchester, NH. Harvard professor and nonprofit consultant Cathy Trower gave an animated, comprehensive and digestible workshop, Governance as Leadership, for nonprofit leaders and board members.
During the 6 hours workshop I filled page after page in my black moleskin notebook. In the margins I jotted books to purchase, timeless quotes on leadership and planned future board meeting agendas. One particular line of questioning stayed with me as left for the day. “Why this board?” Meaning would the impact on the organization be the same or similar if you swapped board with another organization? What makes this group especially poised to do the work in front of them? What if you exchanged just a few members – in this case does the question become why me? Why I am I an integral part of this board? What is the legacy of this group? Of each individual member?
All nonprofit organizations are governed by a board of directors, who are stewards of the organizations assets and generators of policies which guide the strategic direction of the organization. Board members donate time, their professional talents and financial resources to further the work of the organization.
Competent, committed, passionate board members are not easy to come by. I doubt there are many if any organizations that have a stream of potential members banging down their door. When you have a group of decided members in place an organization should consider it a job well done, right?
Assembling a group of people of willing stewards for an organization who show up for meetings but can not offer a compelling answer to the previous question does not inspire hope for bright future.
I dissected these questions and the implications of various answers as Oliver Wyman read Thomas Friedman’s 3.0 update of The World is Flat on my drive home.
Wyman, reading Friedman, spends at least the first three cds of the audiobook discussing the “flattening” of the world with a particular focus on the outsourcing of jobs to places like Bangalore, India. The jobs referenced are low level jobs by American standards but as technology and the drive of workers to raise themselves out of poverty increases more jobs are headed out of the US to places like China and India.
Listening to transcripts from the day Friedman spent in a call center in India something clicked. The men and women working at this call center clock epic hours doing thankless work. In the face of irate passengers with lost luggage, dissatisfied customers and disgruntled cardholders they maintain a positive attitude and commitment to excellent service.
Why these employees? They are committed to raising the standard of living for themselves and their families. Their passion for this achievement gives them reason to find a kind word in the face of slander, tolerance in the intolerable and ultimately is part of the reason this job market continues to grow.
It was almost dark when I drove the last three miles to my house. The drive home took almost 4 hours. I shut my car off still thinking about myself as a professional and as a board member.
I decided if I don’t want my job or board tenure outsourced, I should regularly ask myself, Why me? What is the legacy of the board that I serve on?
Shortly after dawn this morning I left my house, battled the weather and drove South to a conference in Manchester, NH. Harvard professor and nonprofit consultant Cathy Trower gave an animated, comprehensive and digestible workshop, Governance as Leadership, for nonprofit leaders and board members.
During the 6 hours workshop I filled page after page in my black moleskin notebook. In the margins I jotted books to purchase, timeless quotes on leadership and planned future board meeting agendas. One particular line of questioning stayed with me as left for the day. “Why this board?” Meaning would the impact on the organization be the same or similar if you swapped board with another organization? What makes this group especially poised to do the work in front of them? What if you exchanged just a few members – in this case does the question become why me? Why I am I an integral part of this board? What is the legacy of this group? Of each individual member?
All nonprofit organizations are governed by a board of directors, who are stewards of the organizations assets and generators of policies which guide the strategic direction of the organization. Board members donate time, their professional talents and financial resources to further the work of the organization.
Competent, committed, passionate board members are not easy to come by. I doubt there are many if any organizations that have a stream of potential members banging down their door. When you have a group of decided members in place an organization should consider it a job well done, right?
Assembling a group of people of willing stewards for an organization who show up for meetings but can not offer a compelling answer to the previous question does not inspire hope for bright future.
I dissected these questions and the implications of various answers as Oliver Wyman read Thomas Friedman’s 3.0 update of The World is Flat on my drive home.
Wyman, reading Friedman, spends at least the first three cds of the audiobook discussing the “flattening” of the world with a particular focus on the outsourcing of jobs to places like Bangalore, India. The jobs referenced are low level jobs by American standards but as technology and the drive of workers to raise themselves out of poverty increases more jobs are headed out of the US to places like China and India.
Listening to transcripts from the day Friedman spent in a call center in India something clicked. The men and women working at this call center clock epic hours doing thankless work. In the face of irate passengers with lost luggage, dissatisfied customers and disgruntled cardholders they maintain a positive attitude and commitment to excellent service.
Why these employees? They are committed to raising the standard of living for themselves and their families. Their passion for this achievement gives them reason to find a kind word in the face of slander, tolerance in the intolerable and ultimately is part of the reason this job market continues to grow.
It was almost dark when I drove the last three miles to my house. The drive home took almost 4 hours. I shut my car off still thinking about myself as a professional and as a board member.
I decided if I don’t want my job or board tenure outsourced, I should regularly ask myself, Why me? What is the legacy of the board that I serve on?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Doing good well wants to get even better: Graduate school? MBA? Experience? A round the world trip?
When I graduated from college and began work in the nonprofit sector,
I fell in the love with fundraising. There is something about the magic of connecting a conscientious philanthropist with a chance to make a difference and watching their eyes light up when they realize in their own way the are literally changing the world, that makes me want to work harder.
In 2008 I broke out on my own to start a consulting business. The venture presented an opportunity to broaden my experience of nonprofit operations, the challenges facing the industry and deepen my understanding of what motivates individuals and corporations to give.
Two years in to the adventure of working for myself, I work for the toughest boss in my career, enjoy the benefits of a flexible schedule and explore the challenges and successes of the industry through the lens of a diverse body of clients. Life is grand.
Still, the stickies application on my laptop is littered with links to graduate programs, fellowships and national organizations I occasionally fantasize about working for.
My dearest childhood friend is a business analyst for Fidelity. He has a formula for how much time should be spend on work, professional development and prospecting.
According to his formula my seemingly schizophrenic digital post-its are nothing more then a routine piece of my professional practice.
The personal narrative the stickies, reveal is unique only in it is my short hand, the content of the links and specific high education institutions reflect my interests. The story is more universal, forces questions about which paths or combination of experiences will make each of us the competent, vibrant, dynamic professionals we strive to be.
Ask any mentor, teacher, family member or trusted colleague about the value of an MBA over experience or vice-versa, the best time to pursue your passions over a rigorous ladder climbing professional tract and each will have an answer they are certain is the right one.
I visit the stickies with regularity, often after a trip, breakthrough in my professional development or during times of frustration. Looking deep into the montage I try to read the notes like taro cards.
It took a trip to Joshua Tree, an hour of solitude in the desert and two years of convincing myself it was the right thing to do, to take the leap to work for myself. I am not looking to rush the next step. I look forward to moment when I look into the stickies or more likely out into the world and recognize the next move.
I fell in the love with fundraising. There is something about the magic of connecting a conscientious philanthropist with a chance to make a difference and watching their eyes light up when they realize in their own way the are literally changing the world, that makes me want to work harder.
In 2008 I broke out on my own to start a consulting business. The venture presented an opportunity to broaden my experience of nonprofit operations, the challenges facing the industry and deepen my understanding of what motivates individuals and corporations to give.
Two years in to the adventure of working for myself, I work for the toughest boss in my career, enjoy the benefits of a flexible schedule and explore the challenges and successes of the industry through the lens of a diverse body of clients. Life is grand.
Still, the stickies application on my laptop is littered with links to graduate programs, fellowships and national organizations I occasionally fantasize about working for.
My dearest childhood friend is a business analyst for Fidelity. He has a formula for how much time should be spend on work, professional development and prospecting.
According to his formula my seemingly schizophrenic digital post-its are nothing more then a routine piece of my professional practice.
The personal narrative the stickies, reveal is unique only in it is my short hand, the content of the links and specific high education institutions reflect my interests. The story is more universal, forces questions about which paths or combination of experiences will make each of us the competent, vibrant, dynamic professionals we strive to be.
Ask any mentor, teacher, family member or trusted colleague about the value of an MBA over experience or vice-versa, the best time to pursue your passions over a rigorous ladder climbing professional tract and each will have an answer they are certain is the right one.
I visit the stickies with regularity, often after a trip, breakthrough in my professional development or during times of frustration. Looking deep into the montage I try to read the notes like taro cards.
It took a trip to Joshua Tree, an hour of solitude in the desert and two years of convincing myself it was the right thing to do, to take the leap to work for myself. I am not looking to rush the next step. I look forward to moment when I look into the stickies or more likely out into the world and recognize the next move.
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