Fired in Line of Duty

A friend I met through a consulting gig just got fired today. She called because she was worried about what she had or had not done right to get fired.

I told her we could go down that path. But it might be more helpful to realize that the job and the company had changed, and that the role she was required to fill did not now fit with her genius or her passion.

It’s hard to realize that the context we’re operating in is changing--as are we. When we start to feel friction, it’s because things that before weren’t rubbing up against each other, now are. It’s important to notice what’s causing the heat--see what fuel there is for us.

In this woman’s case, she was having trouble completing her tasks. Now, she’s more of a Starter personality type, full of ideas and vision, and less interested in the details, so she might have trouble finishing most things. But, now she was finishing less.
This lack of focus, or motivation, is usually as sign that you aren’t living your passion, and not working from your innate talents.

I don’t know this woman well enough to be certain of her innate talents, but she’s highly articulate, philosophic, and wonderful at building relationships. She was in Marketing--which seems right for her at first glance. She could have hired a Finisher for the details. But the actual daily work involved in the job changed--it went from idea generating and strategizing the plan to administering the plan. What the job needed now was more of an Administrator. Not an Idea/Relationship generator.

She lost energy and heart while filling out forms, writing direct mail, following up on process. Not surprising that things were left undone. Or that she got fired.

I am sooo psyched! For almost a decade, I have longed to work with my two sisters. My dream was that we’d design, build and run a school together. This was not their dream. I managed to get my older sister, Neville, to act as President to my start-up, What If? so that I would have to be accountable to someone other than myself. That went brilliantly for me. I’m not sure she got anything out of it . After my accident, I took Doon’s advice and wrote down the 10 Things I want to Do before I Die. I misunderstood him and wrote 101 Things. oops. #37 “Work on a book with my little sister” is now in progress! During my last visit to my parents’ in August, I overheard my little sister, Grins, say that she’d written a children’s book: she had had it illustrated, and she felt less than satisfied. My little sister had found time to write a book!?! She’s the hyper-involved mother of 3 under 11yr olds, a teacher and busy community-outreach programme coordinator and she found time to write a book! (Shades of Harry Potter!). I asked her if I could give illustrations a go. (That’s the beauty of knowing what’s on your 10 Things list. It’s EASY to spot opportunity). My sis sent me her draft manuscript, and I’ve tried some preliminary drawings. Check it out! One is above--that’s Shady, the Newfie Dog and character in the book. I tell you it feels GREAT doing these sketches! Who knew that I could draw dogs? I’d never before tried. Also great, is #82 on my list was “Do more art or creative each day with tangible result.” Ahhh. I love efficiency. Especially when it feels THIS GOOD! Good thing I didn’t listen to the night monkeys when they came and whispered, “You don’t know how to draw dogs!@#$@” Those night monkeys better watch out, or I’ll draw a cage for them. Here’s Jinx, Shady’s sidekick: 

Reconnecting

I've been absent for a while.

I could blame my crashed laptop. I could blame a busy summer, or my brush with death...but really, it was that I had too much to say and couldn't figure where to start, or rather stop.

So I've been throwing it all down into a sloppy-joe of a manuscript.

Recently, nutritional healing for my heart, mind, body, soul came from my sojourn to www.webofchange.com. An assembly of folks transforming their corner of the globe, this event defies description. I came away feeling like I'd attended a family reunion where I discovered that all the truly enlightened, brilliant cousins had been kept secret from me for decades.

I was lucky enough to be a presenter and test drive some of my learning with others. Hard to pack everything into a mere 75 minutes. More soon...