Figure Out What You Want and Go For It

The most important challenge for a rising executive is to figure out what he or she wants in his or her career and life. Until this all-important question is answered all of the career moves, the politicking, and the climbing of the ladder remain unimportant.

There are three vital questions to ask in this — and in this order.

1). Who am I? There is an old saying that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything. It has a great deal of truth to it.

Executives (and everyone else) must first know what they’re made of. What is it that you’d die for? What do you live for? What will you do if faced with a conflict between your job and your ethical/moral system? Do you have a price? What is it, and can you look yourself in the shaving or make-up mirror afterwards?

It is vital to know your values and your mission in life. What did God send you here for? If you’re uncomfortable with the “God” term, substitute your own question there, such as “What am here this time around for,” or “What purpose does the Universe have for me?” They wind up as the same question. Why the heck are you here.

When I ask some of my clients that question I get some pretty scary answers. They include “To build a comfortable life for me, my wife and kids.” Really? Really? The whole Universe has planned to have you here so you can have a nice house and two SUV’s and the money to buy gas for them? Wow…what a wasted life.

I would hope that the talents, skills and brains that you’ve been given give something better back to humanity as a whole than your wife and kids being able to shop at Needless Mark-ups (Neiman Marcus) and go on European vacations and drive a nice car.

What are you here for? A nice life is a nice perk, but it isn’t a Life Purpose. Who are you? What are you going to give back to humanity — and I’m not talking about the $10 bill you slip into the Church collection plate the once a month you show up. I’m talking about what Service you’re going to do for the world. Think about it.

(If you truly think that your highest and best purpose is to make you, your wife and kids comfy, you probably are just going to get very angry reading this blog, as you’ve probably figured out that I think having that as “life purpose” is incredibly shallow.)

2). Where am I going? As J.R.R. Tolkien had Biblo write, “Not all those who wander are lost.” But most are.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there? What would you like people to say about you at your funeral? Being the wealthiest person in the graveyard is not terribly valuable…unless that wealth is in people you’ve helped and those who you’ve loved and who have loved you.

If you’re going to the top chair, why do you want to get there? Do you think you can make a difference as a CEO in people’s lives?

Most of my “C” Level clients wanted that position to make people’s lives better. They wanted to see their employees treated more justly, see a better product made to serve their customers, ensure excellence in ethics and communication, or some purpose that has a bit of nobility to it.
Many others choose to leave that path and pursue a path of making a difference in other ways.

Which path are you going to choose? Why?

3). Who do I want to go there with? Few of us walk totally alone. Figure out if you’re a hermit or if you want to walk with a large group of people.

Then figure out what kind of people you want to have around you. Do you want to work for a large company, or a small one? Do you want to start your own company? Figure out who you want to go with and then stick to your guns. Don’t be swayed by money. Take it from one who knows, money comes and money goes. Money is like the rain. It is here today, but maybe not tomorrow, and it doesn’t matter how much you have. But you can always make more. Making money is easy. Finding a group of people with honor and integrity is tough.

Find a group of people to walk with who have honor and integrity and the dollars (and millions of dollars) will, to some degree, take care of themselves. Align yourself with dishonorable people and/or become dishonorable yourself and it won’t matter how much money you have. A millionaire jerk is still just a jerk. Live with honor or improve the gene pool by leaving it rapidly.

Remember what Mom and Dad used to say about the company we keep and the friends we have? They were right. We are known by the company we keep. We are also known by the Company we work for.

Figuring out with whom you will walk your life path is absolutely vital to your happiness. Choose wisely. Think of the gas and time you’ll save by not having to visit any of your friends in Club Fed Minimum Security doing 10 – 15.

These three questions are essential ones for any individual at any time, but absolutely vital for those climbing the executive ladder. Know who you are, where you’re going and choose carefully with whom you will go and success will follow. Ignore any of these and you’ll fall off that ladder sooner or latter — usually sooner.

All the best,

J.