Читать книгу CONFESSIONS OF A CORPORATE SHAMAN - Harrison Snow - Страница 24

Not too long ago I was talking to a longtime friend on the phone. She mentioned that a mutual acquaintance of ours was struggling. “You are doing better,” she told me, “because you have a good job.” Her declaration took me back. I have a job? I thought. “It’s not really about the job,” I replied to my friend. “Jobs come and go. What I have is a mission.”

When I got out of graduate school, I spent a year looking for a job during a recession. It was embarrassing. Every time I met someone the first question I was asked was, “What do you do?” or “Where do you work?” Not having a ready answer my self-identify—and my self-esteem along with it—took many hits during my protracted job search. At some point I decided that who I was could not be dependent on the job I held. Why tie my sense of self to something that was bound to change? Ironically, when I finally joined a company, the question “What do you do?” no longer came up so frequently. Later, when I started my own firm, that unconditional sense of myself provided a grounded place to stand on that helped draw in clients. My sense of self gained more gravitas when I defined my mission. During a workshop with a group called the Mankind Project, I realized my mission was to foster a peaceful and productive world by facilitating change and transformation.¹³ This realization was the compass I would use to follow my passion. Whether a group loved how I worked with them or not, at least I knew I was doing my mission.

Mark Twain aptly put it this way: “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Knowing your mission has two components: the specific and the general. An elderly lady I knew, Thelma Clark, was well regarded at the church I attended. She had gone through a lot growing up as an African-American in the segregated South and would share her wisdom with those in need. One young man called and confided nearly in tears that he had just lost his job. Thelma’s reply stayed with me and I am sure with that young man. “What do you mean you lost your job?” she retorted. “Your only job is to grow.”