For me, there was a time when success never came often enough.
As someone leading a team, my job was to share the benefits of hitting deadlines … and so avoiding those rare instances of failing to hit targets. It was my responsibility to take us over budget and through the line. I would take failure ‘on the chin, ‘carry the can’ if my team missed any pre-launch target.
If, on the rare occasion we did fail, I needed to come up with a plan to make next time better, and better again, etc.
After all, I held a healthy budget to help ensure the plan worked. I was investing someone else’s money, and for me, that made my job personal. It wasn’t long before I became stuck in a repetitive cycle of expectation, and it wasn’t healthy.
So I decided to work for myself, leaving the budget and team environment behind. I figured being stuck where I was may be costing me more than taking the leap of faith. I needed to embrace my own values and find my own language.
During the early days of self-employment, I found the expectation I’d set myself … my old impatience for success, needed some serious readjustment. ‘The team’ was me, and the practices I’d recently left behind weren’t working. I knew that. Why? How could they? I’d left the old days behind to find I was still living on accountability, and I was pressing for team rewards that were to take a little time … now working for myself.
We all need to take responsibility, right?
I realised it was time to flip, side-step, try something different. If I did not, I’d find myself returning to the familiar, unhealthy work-life balance left far behind. I felt I needed someone else to ‘see me from another person’s point of view.’
It wasn’t long before I visited a local network. Here was a regular meeting where independent thinking came first. I’d found a supportive business environment specifically set up for the self-employed.
By sharing my story with like-minded individuals … I rediscovered the value of the human bond. Support and advice came quickly through shared experiences, growing some fantastic close relationships along the way.
Most importantly, I learned to trust myself and the value of my own skills. I even began to enjoy my career once more …
No one knows what may come from their actions, although if you do nothing, nothing is what you get.
@weeklybiz #stepout
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