Career Runnings

As one of the highlights of our year, Sally and I took a white-road journey.  One of my favorite stories on the trip:  I decide to take a jog along a path at the foot of the Grand Tetons.  The trail is vaguely marked, and I kind of know where I am.  Well, about forty minutes into the run, I begin to realize that my “shortcut home” is not leading me where I think, and, well, I am tolerably lost.  Then my phone rings (yes, I run with my phone, cause I like…well, that’s another story).  My son Cannon is on the phone; I share that I’m lost and I’ll need to call him back.  Maybe he should try Sally.  A few minutes later Sally calls.  (Thank goodness I had my phone, I’d hate to have missed all these calls.)  She sympathizes that I’m lost, and asks if I’ve seen any bears.  That is comforting.  But what else can she do:  I’m lost.  All of a sudden I come upon a road—this is encouraging, though I have been running now for fifty minutes.  I run the road for about ten minutes in the general direction of home, when finally I see a ranger station.  Quick inquiry:  I’m only fifteen (more) minutes from home.  I let Sally off the hook of coming to my rescue and jog the rest of the way home, tail between my legs (so to speak).  What a run!

That story was part of a three-week, white-road journey, and that story defines a white-road journey:

“White-road and red-road journeys are qualitatively different.  You need the right map.  On the red road it is about destination.  On the white road it is about the road.  On the white road you must travel light.  The white road is quiet.  It’s about simplicity.  It’s often adventurous.  You need to dig deep.  Sometimes there is no road.  You have to trust your gut…On the red road, it’s about the destination…The white road:  it’s about the journey.  Traveling the white road places risk in your own hands, not in the hands of others.”

So writes Gary Erickson and Lois Lorentzen in Raising the Bar:  Integrity and Passion in Life and Business, The Story of Clif Bar Inc.

Our white-road journey was a special event:  we were celebrating a milestone—our last kid off to college, a new chapter.  The kids are growing, and so are we.  The trip was illustrative of our next chapter:  we saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Well, okay, rams, and moose and bears (you’ll just have to trust me on the bears—he’s in there).

We saw God’s hand everywhere:  in the mountains, and valleys, and plains; along the hikes, horseback rides, boat trips, and long, long drives; and in the dramatic rock formations and the deep, deep lakes.

But more than anything, we were just together, on an adventure, a white-road journey.  And that’s our next chapter.

I hope your 2011 has been full of white-road journeys, and that your 2012 will bring you even more.

My son Chase is starting his first business.  He’s 24.  I suspect it won’t be his only.  Check out www.brewdream.com or like him on Facebook.  He is just getting started, but he’s got an idea and a passion for making it happen. While I don’t think he’s read my colleague Saras Sarasvathy’s book, Effectuation, I think he gets the concept.  The way I understand the concept:  just do it.  Learn along the way.  Make mistakes, but don’t make the same mistakes twice.  Get in the market and let consumers be your guide.  But most importantly, don’t sit on the sidelines—get in the game and just do it.

Many MBA students will receive advice and probably convince themselves that they should go get corporate experience first, then start their business.  Conventional wisdom suggests this improves your chances of getting funding and eventual success.  I used to get this advice.  But now I think it much more depends on the person, and in general, I think one is more likely to be successful if just do it.  The delay path works for some people, but I think many would-be entrepreneurs never get around to it.  They become trapped by the comforts of the corporate life. 

I’m reading Raising the Bar: The Story of Clif Bar. Gary Erikson, the founder of Clif Bar, went on a bike ride one day, couldn’t stomach another Power Bar, and spent the next six months developing a better bar.  He just did it.

So my recommendation:  just do it.  Get some experience by getting in the market.  Yes, you can change the world.  But you can’t change the world sitting on the sideline.

One day before the Fourth Annual University of Virginia Investing Conference at Darden (UVIC) kicks off.  I blocked my calendar months ago to handle last minute details and crises, and to make any last minute decisions. My most important job so far today:  going out and getting lunch for the real conference leader, Deanne, Darden’s Corporate Relations Associate. I was just getting back from this errand when my daughter Christine called and reminded me that she has a job interview today.  We discussed that they will probably ask her about leadership:  what is it, what’s her style?  We talked about “good” answers, but it sure got me thinking about leadership and UVIC. I am, well, the leader of this event. But what kind of leader am I being?  What’s been my leadership style? 

A great boss and mentor of mine taught me that great leaders fill the gaps, the voids that are being left by others.  He demonstrated that great leaders provide ideas and insights when others need a boost, and then get out of the way.  He always set the tone and the pace, but let others lead.  He tackled barriers and demons that got in his people’s way, but then let them steer around the obstacles along the way.

Deanne and Jennifer, co-leaders of the conference, have demonstrated enormous leadership on this year’s conference.  Here we are the day before:  no crises, no panics.  I’m sure we have a few bumps to experience in the next 24 hours, but they’ve left time and space to deal with them.  Watching them lead has taught me so much these past few months.  My own leadership has evolved as I’ve watched them lead through sticky situations and resource constraints. 

So, my conclusion for Christine and her leadership questions:  stay out of the way, and let them lead.

Today I must write my performance review.  It must be today.  I’m already late, past the deadline.  If you know me, you know I am seldom late for anything, never miss a deadline.  But I don’t especially like feedback, and I have little respect for the process many companies call performance reviews.  Yet, as a student of “career management,” I know the importance of feedback and the value in knowing one’s self.  So, what’s my internal conflict?

I’ve sat through (and probably delivered) so many unfulfilling performance reviews—no, not ones about bad performance, but ones that left me wanting, angry, frustrated, empty, or wanting to run away.

I’ve too many times looked at the performance review as indication of my value (to whom?) and self worth.  My self esteem has been closely tied to my professional “success,” especially as reflected in the performance review.

BS, hogwash, malarkey.  While I “know” this (left brain), I don’t really know this, or at least I have trouble internalizing it this time of year.

Many HR professionals, and professors of Organizational Behavior, have written on the value, or lack of value, of performance reviews.  Some espouse eliminating them, some focus on strengths, some connect them with compensation, some connect them with potential and promotion.  I guess the jury’s out.

This year, though, I’m going to write my successes the past twelve months and my failures.  I’m going to express how I felt about the year, where I wish I had done more, and where I could have used more help.  I also want to celebrate my successes, and calibrate on my strengths.  I want to do more things that make me feel fun loving and inspiring, and fewer things that drain my energy.

Many of you might be finishing your most recent year, or your summer internship.  Now might be a natural time for reflection and feedback.  Be bold in celebrating your accomplishments, but also be genuine in your reflections of your weaknesses and failures.  Self awareness is a critical need for success in business today.  Many interviewers look for self awareness as an indication of learning agility and ability to deal with ambiguity and pressure.  Most likely your boss has observed your performance and formed opinions—no need to try to fool him/her.

If you are like me, take comfort—this performance review is not an indictment of you or your career potential.  It’s a point in time, it’s data.  Use the data to inform your future choices, not to calculate your self worth.  Ask questions, clarify, and seek examples of behavior discussed.  Make sure you understand the feedback.  I suggest not arguing about it—I guess you could point out behaviors that might counter the feedback, but not much good can come from such argument. 

For me, I’m learning (more now than earlier in my career) to appreciate the new data and the time my boss takes to “review” me (and by the way, I have a good boss, who processes this “stuff” the same way I do).  Key word there:  learning.  I still don’t love.  That’s why I’m two weeks late.  And instead of writing my review the past thirty minutes, I wrote this. Ha.

Given the competitive nature of life and careers these days, everyone needs a head start.  If you can just get that extra boost at the beginning, then you’re going to get to “success” much sooner.  But what I learned recently at The Corporate Athlete Course at the Human Performance Institute suggests that you really cannot get a head start if you do not know what your destination is.

“Tiger Moms” know the importance of a head start, and they do everything they can do to give their kids a head start.  (What an interesting read—definitely a good subject for a future blog.)  Baseball runners know this—they risk an out by “playing off the base” to get a head start on their run to the next base.  Even business gurus know this, given the plethora of books on getting off to a fast start in your career (see Right from the Start by Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins and The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins).

Last week  I attended the Consortium Orientation Program (OP)—a four-day event designed to give a head start on their post-MBA job search to a number of talented under-represented minority students.  The Consortium is successful in achieving its mission, and the OP is an integral part of the Consortium’s success.  The students are investing their time and effort now in their MBA job search, so they will be better prepared, and possibly even employed, before their MBA program even begins.

What struck me in my conversations with a few of them, as we worked on their “elevator pitch” one-on-one, was how few of them knew actually know where they want to go, or know what their life’s mission.  I empathize.  I have found it very difficult to articulate what I want in life, what success is, how I want to feel, and what I want to accomplish.  But I am finally at least trying to.  In my last blog post I shared a draft of mission statement. For the last two weeks, I’ve been reading it daily (almost) and thinking about it and my current job and extracurricular life.

I spent my time with these Consortium students, introducing this concept, and helping them get a small handle on what they stand for now, what they might want to do next, and how to begin to position themselves, not just for interviews this week, but for their career.  A tough task for just a thirty minute meeting, but to me, it was the best head start I could give them. 

And the best head start you can give yourself.