I never set out to be the guy who helps organizations improve. I certainly never set out to be what today is called a “change agent.” But through challenges and determination and time, I learned that this is exactly what I am good at.
I can’t remember when, or even who said it to me, but a number of years ago someone told me, “you have this weird ability to look into an organization and connect the dots, to see things others miss.” I still have to reflect on that idea, because it wasn’t something that I had determined to do or be. It just happened through the course of different experiences, different organizations and different people.
Work is hard. It’s hard when you begin your career, it’s hard as you move through it and grow, and it’s hard even as you have accumulated experience, wisdom and bruises along the way. But that reality is tempered by what we can and do achieve in helping our businesses and organizations grow, change and become better over time.
But what’s most exciting for me is the knowledge that what I bring to the table, when combined with what my clients bring to the table, we create something new. A new idea. A new perspective. A new take on something familiar. And the joy is in the process, in the “aha moments” we all share along the way. The learning is a two-way street. The collaborative process means we all learn together and that knowledge directs and inspires the decisions going forward.
Seriously, I love this stuff. I get so energized by it. I can’t help it. I love the collaborative nature of the work, I love arriving at a new place together, and I love the excitement of my clients when they find their way to a point of demarcation. The moment when new lights go on and the path forward is both exciting and a little scary – I thrive on that.
That’s when things happen!
