Organizations like this are the future of work. Please, before showering me with contempt, go to Google and enter the words: equity investment firms, Silicon Valley.

Thus far, Elon Musk has taken on the insurmountable task of paving the way for an urgent need to transform our world to electric mobility.

10 Years folks. The tipping point of the impossible is taking place right now. Every auto manufacturer is converting to electric, and in its wake, the petrochemical cartel is, shall we say, “acting out?”

The world doesn’t need more armchair critics.

The world needs new workers. Problem solvers. Artisans of their own lives. The roles are infinite. Solutions and beauty. Lest there be any doubt about the urgency at hand, consider the fact that one of the first applications of the technology revolution is cleaning up after the filthy industrial revolution before it.

This helplessness thing does not suit us. Nor does responding to someone’s success with cynicism and contempt.

As for Elon Musk, I study him. Here is a man who didn’t “buy” Twitter. His success as an innovator is so thorough that his name alone financed that purchase.

The post Study Him appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

The most important piece of information is that human beings are able to think about something other than themselves for a maximum of 15-seconds.

The findings made pitch-selling obsolete. But, how does this impact our day-to-day living?

For several years many of us have been proving that being concerned with our own needs and expectations rather than helping others has not helped any of us.

If you are the exception, please speak up.

Over 12,000,000 spam e-mails are sent out for every sale that is made. By not having the respectfulness to find out what we need, continual pitching only shuts us down.

If you have achieved terrific results from continual pitching, please speak up.

We have been yelling at each other for a number of years and all that has accomplished is to make our country an ugly place. When I was a little kid, Lady Bird Johnson (One of the First Lady’s) was on a kick to beautify and clean-up America.

My grade school teacher screeched at us, “When you see trash by the side of the road, what do you think of?”

A kid in the back of the room responded, “Home.”

There is the rub. When trash becomes a way of life, all of us suffer.

My redemption has emerged from being of service. I don’t do it because it is right. I do it because service is the one thing that makes me feel great.

There were times in my life where friends referred to me as the “king of one-liners and put-downs.” It didn’t make me feel better. For one moment, I believed I was better, only to discover that what I had said made me far worse.

Do we want our lives to improve?

Go ask people what they want and need.

If you want our lives to improve,

Give it to them.

The post If You Can Only Think About Me For 15-Seconds, How Will All of Us Move Forward? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

I’m not big on offering unsolicited advice but 2020 will most likely go down as the most difficult year in our collective history. Yogi Barra once said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” The famed baseball pitcher and philosopher was making a point in how important it is for us to take rather than think about action. This time, it is just as important to take the right action. So, I will do my best to give a few suggestions such as, “If I were in your shoes.”

Today’s Notes Include:

• What happened last weekend?
• Where are 2021s big opportunities?
• Why can December be so very important?

What Happened Last Weekend?

The unprecedented challenges impacting those of us who work pushed us to offer the November Inspired Work Program for $100 rather than $800.

Our participants came from all over the world. They blew away our fears that by making such a crazy reduction our participants would treat the program far too casually. But, they didn’t. They rolled up their sleeves and worked. They produced life-changing results. We were hit with so much goodwill and gratitude that we are completing 2020 with one more $100 program. Up to 100 participants can join us in December for the same fee.

We did this one out of love and my suggestion is to treat the opportunity in the same way. Take yourself into the new year with a new life. Give your friends and loved ones a gift unlike any other.

Where Are 2021s Growth Opportunities?

Let’s start with the obvious. if you work in an industry or organization that is shrinking, leave. Start by exploring the industries that are growing. Explore the ones that capture your imagination and interest. Rather than inundate our readers or turn my primary role into soothsayer, we will ongoingly provide news about “what’s next.”

A few of our hottest markets:

Technology 

Duh! But technology is rapidly growing in areas that might not come to mind. Bio-science is at an accelerative turning point. Incurable diseases are being cured. Health improvements are more widely available and cheaper. New talent hubs are emerging in areas like Southern California but also throughout the world. Investment capital is committed and rich. This is an area ripe for growth with new business and employment. Plus, the dynamics are to be part of something that saves and improves our lives.

We were headed towards a tipping point with communications technology, now we are on fire. As the world became used to Zoom and Skype, business travel as we knew it is over. Consumers have always been the biggest drivers of change. As I write this, I’m looking at Sony Music and Universal Music. Both buildings have been empty for about six months. As commercial real estate undergoes its biggest shake-out ever, look to the organizations that make telecommuting easier, more gratifying, and productive.

Over the last few years, billions have been invested in virtual work technology. This isn’t Zoom or Skype. The drivers offer meetings that we can step into, travel experiences that feel as if we are there. Occulus comes to mind but most every huge technology company is taking high-quality virtual immersion seriously.

Social Entrepreneurism

Social entrepreneurs solve world problems by making the solution wildly profitable.

The category is growing more quickly than other forms of start-ups.

Virtually everyone is in the midst of a direct confrontation with mortality. Often, that leads to an urgency to develop meaning within our own lives. Work is one of the key platforms for such an opportunity. For many, making money is no longer enough. The trend is there for fresh graduates as well. Many no longer go to just any employer website. They look for organizations and leaders that cure disease, offer high-quality and cost-free education, clean-up oceans, and bring greater safety to our communities.

You do not have to move to Silicon Valley to become part of this movement. We find innovation centers throughout the world. There is a growing need for solutions and after we get through this year, I predict we will witness explosive growth.

How can you learn more? Open Google and enter social entrepreneurs, the world’s top social entrepreneurs, etc. Look to authors such as Peter Diamandis, Kevin Kelly, and, of course, Daniel Pink.

Media Content

We are in the midst of the greatest explosion of media content since having three Television networks. 2020 has been tough on media organizations and while quite painful, much change will be positive. Entertainment options have grown explosively for the last ten years. The pandemic became a big pothole for new development and production. As it comes back, we will find large volumes of employment and business opportunities.

Really, reruns of Charlie’s Angels can only go so far.

What is the Big Deal About December?

If you regularly ask people, “Where do you winter?” There is no need to continue.

Employers and larger clients are in the midst of finishing up their 2020 budget. That means many leaders want to spend what’s left of their existing budget, which will be gone in just a few short weeks.

When I was in the staffing industry, I offered people bonuses to stay in town. We routinely produced our largest billings.

Of all the times we have secured business, here’s my favorite story: We were in New York on a variety of business development calls. One was to meet the entire human capital team of a global media company. We were grilled for about an hour and felt the conversation had gone well. About five minutes after leaving the building, my phone rang. It was the leader of the meeting.

She said, “Would you please send us, immediately, a retainer invoice for $185K?”

Our administrator had just left for the holidays. So, I asked, “When do you need it?”

“We need it for a 2’clock payment run.”

We raced back to the hotel, sent an invoice, and two days later, received the funds. The project was delivered the following summer.

I live by a spiritual philosophy that has served me quite well. It is to raise our probability of success. But, the results are up to God. What I have noticed is that those of us who work hard, with open hearts, and a smile whenever possible, often turn out to be quite lucky.

Folks, we welcome your comments and participation.

The post What Everyone Ought to Know About December appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

I could plaster all types of examples of participants that have established meaningful careers, and what we ten to do when we realize we haven’t spent much time on what is meaningful to us personally. When that doesn’t line up with how we make a living, changes often occur pretty quickly.

When all of us are aware of how quickly life can end, it is only natural to wonder about the meaning of it all. We find a spectrum from Christian, Hebrew, Islamic, and religious doctrine all to Elon Musk’s belief that we are living in a virtual reality game run by an advanced society.

A year-and-a-half ago, my partner and I were having dinner. We suddenly heard blood-curdling screams from the hallway outside our condo. The desperate cries were coming from a neighbor we found quite irritating for five years. Her mentally disabled son was on top of her, blood was everywhere, and he was well on his of murdering her in front of us. We don’t keep guns, but we have utensils. I grabbed a rolling pin and my partner got on the phone with the police.

Her face was unrecognizable. I yelled that if he didn’t stop, I was going to hit him. Then, I did it and he kept coming back as if he hadn’t felt a thing. It took the police over 40 minutes to arrive. Our other neighbors didn’t come to help. Even the security guard on our property didn’t spring into action. The head of the paramedic team shared doubts that she wouldn’t make it to the hospital. They had to revive her three times and after almost two months of healing and surgery, she made it home.

People routinely called us heroes. For the first time, I understood why so many people have difficulty accepting that title. A few weeks later, friends were over for dinner, and after telling them what happened, a dear woman said, “Life is sacred. The two of you know that and what you did was a sacred act.” From that vantage point, we had to do everything we could to save her life. Because if we did not, we would turn into men without any sense of life being sacred. This is why the action that we take does far more to define us than words.

Over the years, I’ve worked with so many people who have dared to speak up and commit to careers that bring meaning into their lives. We have also encountered many people with the same need, but they choose comfort over action.

Work dominates most of our waking hours. As we weather this storm, we expect a new flood of participants coming to Inspired Work to define and find meaningful professional lives. Because this is the first time, we have experienced the spectrum of mortality together every single day, for over six months. For many, settling for just a paycheck will no longer be enough.

Our society is also in the direct experience of the difference between empathy and self-centeredness, which turns out to be the most efficient way to turn us into very small packages.

But, rather than regaling you with glamorous stories about our clients, I would like to share how touched I’ve been with the heroes that are around us every single day.

Before sharing the truth, I have only recently entered the protected age class at Whole Foods, so I’ve learned to cop to my age by showing up at 7 a.m. I get to be there when there are few customers in the store. The workers have a deep sense of pride in how they present food to us. They genuinely care and pay attention to their customers. The produce department is a work of art. At first, I was reminded of stepping into a cafe in Barcelona for breakfast. I asked for fruit and yogurt. Here, we would have a glass filled with yogurt and some fruit thrown on the top. The Spaniards will turn fruit and yogurt into an art piece. I asked our waiter why the spent so much time on a fairly common dish. He smiled and said, “We don’t want to be common and beauty makes all of our lives better.”

Progressing through Whole Foods brings me to Stella, my first lady butcher. She was in rock bands before and she wears her tattoos as a badge of honor. She has these turned up glasses with nicely set rhinestones – just two or there. I often ask how she is being treated. The answer is always the same, “Most of my customers are patient and kind. There are more people that seem to be angry all the time. But, I don’t take it personally. They are going through a lot right now.”

A lot? She has four children to support and takes the bus in from the valley. She is just as afraid as the rest of us and yet, she shows up and has the decency to keep giving people love and the benefit of the doubt in Santa Monica, filled with self-appointed elites. Stella looks at them with compassion. Because life is sacred.

I was at Cedar-Sinai hospital last month to prepare to get rid of the injury on my thumb. It felt like walking into a war zone. Before getting into the clinic, there was a line with about eight people in front of me. At the front was a beautiful and cordial woman checking temperatures, issuing masks, and handing out sanitizer. A man in front of me started yelling at her to speed up. I raised my voice and said, “She is here for us. She puts her life on the line for all of us.” Most of the line broke into applause. When I got to her she whispered, “If the circumstances were different, I would hug you.” I suggested she had earned hugs from all of us every single day.

These are the people that put their lives on the line to take care of us. They are the heroes.

These are the people that deserve our attention and applause. Because they have the depth and courage to be empathetic and kind, even to the people walking around without much gratitude because they are so very important.

As for you?

If this tidal wave of a year has created a thirst for meaning in your professional life, give us a call.

The post The Real Heros appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Before the pandemic, about half of America’s workers characterized themselves as under-employed. Most are hard-working and conscientious but with each passing year, their work becomes more difficult and less valuable. As an election year sweeps past us, we have yet to find one member of either dominant party providing true leadership on the challenge of underemployment. They make promises when the nation’s workers need guidance, understanding, and encouragement. On that front, Germany, China, Japan, South Korea, and Canada are way ahead of us in making sure their citizens have the current skills necessary to continue building their lives as well as their country’s economy.

Over here, we dismiss their best practices as socialism.

That brings up the need for all of us to take deep responsibility in having a relationship with our work that works. Without that, times will be tougher than before.

Many business owners have even greater difficulty with change because to do so requires a stack of additional challenges. I gave a keynote to a group of petroleum entrepreneurs in Canada. At the time, the global energy market was under siege and the Q & A centered around their challenges. I brought up the fact that petroleum will come back in fits but overall, it will decline as consumers will lose interest. I added that if they didn’t change the world, their children would.

Ouch!

I have promised good news.

We spend an enormous amount of time in our culture studying dysfunction, bad news, and pain. But, there is an entirely new tribe of business leaders that is reshaping how we view work. Today’s social entrepreneur insists on growing businesses by making a solution to a world problem profitable.

That day in Canada, I posed a question:

“What is Al Gore up to these days?”

For one, he is making tons of money. In 2019 his net worth doubled from $200Million to $400Million. This happened because several venture capitalists from Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley’s legendary Kleiner Perkins that have been working with Vice President Gore in making green energy more profitable than petroleum, natural gas, and fracking.

All of this began by realizing the only way to create vast and sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest problems, we have to make the solution itself wildly profitable. Today, the start-ups that Gore and his partners invested in had to get through one of the most vigorous vetting processes that require pristine business plans, fully competent management teams, and strongly engaged oversite.

Peter Diamandis, the pied piper of social entrepreneurs, says, “If you want to become a billionaire, help a billion people.” Peter’s brilliance as well as the smarts that are common to our new board insists that it is no longer enough to just make money. The new icons change the world by helping others. In Los Angeles, Diamandis is the co-founder of X-Prize. The organization began when Richard Branson made an announcement offering a truckload of money to the first engineering team that could come up with a feasible way to provide access to commercial space travel.

A close friend of Branson, Peter saw an opportunity to bring this funding model into solving problems where sustainability has proven elusive. After launching X-Prize, Diamandis and his team have been bringing in billionaires and companies to fund solutions to our biggest problems. Just a few examples include the 4ocean, the machines that are now cleaning plastic from our oceans. They recently funded portable CatScan and MRI devices, that are saving thousands of lives in third world countries by being able to get a diagnosis rather than taking a critically ill patient through hours of difficult travel.

Why am I so excited about this segment?

For one, they are my new tribe and most of them have jobs.

We launched Inspired Work in 1990. Over the years thousands of people have used our program to launch new careers, start their first business or go back to work with a solution to a big problem. Of the thousands of changes that have occurred with our participants, the most common thread is meaning. One of the truths about life is the only meaning we can use is the meaning we define for ourselves, which is beautiful and unique each and every time.

Our new company workskunk will help solve underemployment by making the best possible programs available without charge. Inspired Work will still be here, but that audience has differing needs and expectations. But there is urgency and meaning to solving the problem of underemployment. When people look ahead and cannot find a place where they will make a good living, of course, we will find turmoil.

My office is in the center of Silicon Beach. I am looking at organizations like HBO, Cornerstone on Demand, Interscope, and Sony Music. While editing this article, we also watched a family walk through the neighborhood. One parent was pushing a shopping cart filled with two kids. The other was pushing a shopping cart with their belongings. This is what I mean by urgency.

I hope that America is still the most abundant country in the world. But, it feels like our country is going through one of the most untoward periods of adolescence in the world. The movement of social entrepreneurism is based on the recognition that running a business to just make money, that’s for people who still don’t care. But, we also insist on making the kind of money that pushes innovation past the old decaying formulas.

We are in the midst of a huge restructuring and task-based jobs are going the way of the mainframe computer. If you are one of the many millions of people impacted by this change, stop waiting. Learn how to change as quickly and as humanly as possible. Then, go do it.

We might have to become more skilled in drawing attention to ourselves. Many of us run from the possibility of getting hurt feelings, but the alternative is starvation. In many cases, the prospect of staying in jobs that are in decline is spiritual starvation.

I get to work with social entrepreneurs. Some of them are devoting their lives to curing cancer and other horrific diseases. One of my clients pulled me into his lab and turned back to say, “Welcome to my temple of hope.” I don’t know about you, but that is far more compelling than being in an environment that is there solely for shareholder value. Other clients are engaged in bringing cost-free higher education to everyone that has a computer or tablet. Others are focused on net-zero reality. What I find time and time again, is that finding the work that matters to us is the first and most important into this new future.

What I hope to convey here is that it is time for many of you to find your way in from the cold and to come up with a solution for work that has greater value than simply paying the bills. It isn’t enough.

I used to be nice about this subject called work. But, when the pandemic hit, many of those jobs that slid down the rabbit hole and will not be coming back. If that is impacting you then this is the time to change, to find your way into a new life, and to develop the faith as well as the courage to take action.

To summarize:

If it is time to change, look for a target that provides for your family, that nourishes your soul, and that brings meaning and purpose to your life.

Do that and one day you will look in the mirror and see redemption.

The post The Best News About Work – Ever appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

“Pushed by the Pain or Pulled by the Vision.”

This is a phrase in which I am intimately familiar. The extremes were a driving force in launching Inspired Work, thirty years ago this weekend. Outside of our bonds with loved ones and spirituality, our purpose plays a definitive role in establishing meaning, fulfillment, economic freedom, and joy in our lives. Thank you to all of the brave souls who joined us and proved we can love our work and make great livings in the same life.

September 15, 1990. I found myself standing in front of thirty-six people, each drawn to the Loew’s Beach Hotel to define their ideal relationship towards work.

Pushed by the pain? I was!

• A seven-year relationship came to a traumatic end.
• My career unexpectedly blew up.

I likened the period to a term my fellow sailors use called “the bitter end.” This is when you drop anchor, and the water is too deep. That last piece of rope when it flies through your hands? That’s the bitter end.

I worked in the staffing industry for 13 years, 12 as an executive. I viewed this work as my day job. I got into it by selecting the friend who made the most amount of money and asking for an interview.

My real career? I was working towards becoming a commercially successful jazz pianist and composer.

Finally, my big and magnificent ship came in and docked.

A respected jazz producer had just launched a label with Warner Brothers. He asked if I would become their first artist. Some of my friends from the staffing company said you could see the skid marks as I zoomed out the door. I quickly came to love him. He was a visionary, had impeccable musical taste, and he was the kind of producer who inspired giving our best, whether it was behind an instrument, talking to another musician, arguing about a pad.

One beautiful and sunny afternoon, the phone rang. A woman was sobbing, and it was Lyman’s girlfriend. Early that morning, he walked down the stairs, looked at her with a smile, asked what she was doing with her day, and then, he dropped dead. Afterward, I sank to the floor and didn’t move for over an hour. My dogs came over and curled up next to me. When I finally opened my eyes, I was hit by an overwhelming sucker punch:

“I have always been waiting for happiness in the future.”

For the first time, I realized that I didn’t really know anything of value in how to build a life where happiness and joy are daily centerpieces.

It was like getting a cold shower after tragic circumstances. “Yes, you didn’t survive the Titanic. And, that warmth you’re feeling? It isn’t heaven.

I was usually involved in human development programs. At the time, Cherie Carter-Scott introduced me to the power of asking and answering questions. I find the Socratic process to be the tool that brings dignity to everyone who uses it. I also found that other programs tended to deal with work in a very obtuse way like pressuring us to “make a difference.”

I walked down to the beach every single day with a notepad and a pen. At first, the title was “my miserable life.” Later it changed, “How will I make the world better for all of us?” What I was working on was becoming part of a curriculum. Friends asked me to deliver a pilot in an academic setting. But, it was that first program at the beach that changed my life along with almost every person in that room.

It was the first time I encountered my purpose because it was more important than music. I was begin given the opportunity to help people free their souls and I have never looked back.

What have I learned?

One

All of us have a purpose that brings richness, meaning, and fulfillment to our lives. But, turning that into a living is every bit as important. Fuse the two together, and we not only find joy, but we have sustainable freedom.

Two

We come into this world with career DNA. Until we develop the courage to find it, we get by. Some call it mediocrity. If you have any doubts about DNA take a look at your thumb.

Three

Fearlessness is a myth. The only fearless people I’ve known have well-developed pathologies, or they are numbed out on something. When we accept that fear is best responded to by courage, we are ready to pursue the life we really want to have.

Four

The road to success is based on finding the work that you love and developing the life skills that make any career or business successful, at least until the day it becomes obsolete.

Five

Technology isn’t taking away work; it is giving us freedom from monotonous and mind-numbing tasks. The emerging work is meaningful, it matters, it is essential, and it will help us grow as never before. But it isn’t there if we don’t look.

Next?

We are launching a new company called workskunk. The purpose of this new business is to help end underemployment, which we believe is the greatest source of turmoil in America. Yes, it feels as if everything we have done to this point is a dress rehearsal for what’s coming.

Thank You’s Are In Order

My last boss once asked me what it is like to wake-up in the morning. I wondered what she was getting at. She responded, “I’ve followed you. Your work has given thousands of people brand new lives. What does that feel like?”

I said, “It feels like redemption.”

I will always do my best to stand up for all that you want to accomplish. I will always do my best to grow because that is the only way I can continue to be of service.

Thank you to the loving and brilliant people who’ve made this journey not only possible, you have turned my life into an experience that surprises all of us.

Paula, everyone learns from your empathy and commitment to be kind, no matter what.

Bob Maurer, you showed up and offered brilliance, credibility, and science. Not only have you changed the lives of our participants and clients, but you have also transformed my life.

‘If there was ever an award for being a solid citizen, it would have to go to Sherry Geyer.

Cherie Carter-Scott, you showed me how to find the truth.

To my late and great teacher Phil Cohen, not only were you the most inspiring music whisperer I ever met, you taught me how to unlearn, and that gift touches everyone that I touch. As a result, you continue to stay alive in my heart.

David Philp, your are my British pop icon and finest mentor. We are brothers from several mothers, and you are the most elegant source of wicked humor that I’ve ever known.

Mary Campbell, you will never quite know just how much you gave to my moving forward. I treasure your integrity and your extraordinary intelligence. You bring grace to those qualities that can only exist in a ballerina.

Paul Archambault, Most of my life was spent talking guys into trying on the glass slipper until there was you.

Thank you to those of you who showed up and allowed us to help you find the truth and bring your real gift into a world that needs everything we have.

The post A Thirty Year Anniversary? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Over the next few weeks, we are running a series of articles highlighting some of the remarkable people that have not only changed their work, they have transformed every aspect of how they make a living.

We help people find their way to the truth. Anyone who comes through our programs emerges with clarity of their unique purpose and an understanding in how to become successful doing that. In some cases, the discovery helps them succeed in their existing work. Others make significant career changes into new jobs. Others launch businesses for the first time.

We treat work as a relationship, one that consumes most of our waking hours. Just as in romance, the success of that relationship is based on finding the work we love and developing the life skills that sustain our success.

The intent in sharing these stories is to provide insight in just how far with a bit of courage and humility can have life-changing and successful change in relatively short periods of time.

Some of the stories are from clients and participants that have permitted us to tell their stories without disclosing names. Others are comfortable with revealing their identities.

This particular story is one that I will never forget.

Several months after we launched Inspired Work, a group of human resource executives came to the program. They were from a financial institution that was starting to implode. After the experience, they offered the program to anyone who wanted more than a “transition.” The sent the employees who wanted to elevate this change in their lives as a turning point.

One young man walked in the door and I was immediately struck with how other participants responded to him. His story was a bit breathtaking. He grew up with a family of immigrant farmers. He was the first person from that family to graduate from college. In fact, his performance was so strong that he received a scholarship to Harvard for his MBA.

By his mid-thirties, he was the CFO of a big financial institution. In less than ten years he had risen to the youngest C-level executive in the organization. Now, we sat in front of us without a job.

We do not tell people what to do with their lives. For many of us, that is where our career troubles began. We help people define what their heart, mind, and soul most wants with such detail, taking action can take place immediately.

We ask questions, and as our participants write out the answers, a comprehensive picture emerges. We don’t pressure people to share their responses. However, most of them become quite enthused with their discoveries.

The CFO raised his hand and began sharing a surprising story.

“I grew up in the fields of Central California. All of my family members worked on farms. It was a difficult life, but I loved it.”

He looked down for a moment and back-up. It became clear he was telling one crucial truth for the first time in his life.

“All that I ever wanted to do was to grow things. For me, the experience of being outdoors, planting seeds, nurturing their growth, and doing that with my family, that was magic.”

I asked, “Why did you move so far away from the work you most loved?”

He gave an ironic smile. “I always excelled in school. When I left for Harvard. they were proud and joyous. Our entire community talked about what I had accomplished. As I got carried along from their enthusiasm, I didn’t have the courage to tell them that I was unhappy about work for a long time.”

As gently as possible, I asked,

“Since the day you left home. how much have you learned about business?”

He began an inventory of his knowledge and skills. He understood how to grow a business, raise funds, and make informed decisions about the strengths and shortcomings of business plans. He had facilitated large commercial real estate transactions.

I waved my hand to take a break.

“I’m getting the sense that you feel you either have to turn your back on business in order to return to the farm.”

He nodded.

“Are you planning on going back without those gifts? The truth is that you have grown into a person very different than the boy who left the fields. How could you take that and make a triumphant return to all that you love?”

The next morning, he walked into the room, and it was clear he had set himself free.

The moment I asked the participants to describe what happened and what they wanted to accomplish, his hand shot up.

We ask to hear about everyone’s progress so that we are in the best position possible to help as the second day unfolds. His hand shot up.

He announced, “I’m buying a farm.”

We are not big on ritualized excitement. But, the group began to applaud and it could have been the one moment that he experienced just how much people want us to be happy.

I asked, “What are you going to do with your family?”

He smiled broadly, “I’m making them part of the business.”

A few years later, he called me out of the blue. I can recall his enthusiasm and the music in his voice as if the call took place today.

He developed a farm in Ventura County that brings the most beautiful produce for the finest restaurants on the western seaboard. He wanted me to know that his breakthrough became a turning point for his entire family. In fact, all of them have equity in the business.

He added, “Most every day, I get here early. But, I pick that time for myself. I get to watch the sun come up over the hills. As our fields come into view I realize that God has watched over all of us. That sense of magic has never grown old.”

What is the lesson for us? When we open our eyes and commit to the work we were born to do, life falls into place. I have worked with thousands of people like them. Each one found their way into work that is as detailed and exquisite as their DNA.

What have I learned?

Everyone has imprint within that is as detailed and as moving as our thumbprint. When we develop the initiative to find that, the courage to grow that, a big portion of our lives come together as well.

We live in a place in time where I knowledge grows more swiftly than at any other point in our history. This is the time to stop settling for work that doesn’t suit us, especially if it is based on mind-numbing tasks.

Technology offers all of us the freedom to deliver work that is essential, that matters, and that solves one of the billions of problems that have results because of accelerating change.

The single most important lesson from this journey is my truth. Each and every one of you who read this article, you have a unique purpose. If you are living in that place, I don’t have to say another word. We are living in challenging times. Human nature is such that when our financial survival is at stake, we lower our standards. But, the world in which that might have worked is gone.

One of my clients is a former chief human resource executives from a variety of large organizations. He developed a vital and unique business that manages human capital during mergers and acquisitions. In his first year of business, he called to tell me his CPA had just informed him that he made more in the first year of business than his best year with a job. Both of us were so moved that we shed tears together.

He just finished his second year with more growth. I acknowledged him for having a variety of options and picking the one that offered the greatest fulfillment. He laughed, “Options! I didn’t have options. By the time we finished the questioning process the only work that made sense was this one, the one that I love and that makes the best use of my skills.”

If you or someone that you love has been struggling with the big changes and the turmoil roiling through our country, keep our eyes on positive outcomes. Task work is turning into powder. Whatever is left will turn out to be cheaper, shorter and even less satisfying.

But, we have progressed at a high rate of speed into new work that demands more of us, that often makes the world a better place to live, work that is far more engaging and meaningful.

For my friends and readers, this is the most important statement in the article:

The new world of work is offering us freedom. 

Some are already thinking, “I wasn’t looking for freedom. I want my job back.”

For years, our home has always had a couple of dachshunds. The first one that came into our house had been in a cage for about a month. We placed her in a crate that was quite similar in size to the cage. When we got home, we opened the door and invited her out. Eventually, she began moving around in a rectangle that fit the dimensions of her old home. She was terrified. Then, she looked up and realized she was in a whole new world.

This new reality raises the most important question to answer:

How do you want to use your freedom?

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2020, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post How Did One CFO Become a Wealthy Farmer? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

Why? The rise and fall of industries grow every day. In 1960, the average job tenure was over nine years. Today, the average college graduate will change careers, not jobs, 4-6 times.

Many of these organizations are having just as much difficulty changing than the rest of us. Most often, obsolete employers move from being appreciative of their employees to use that old chestnut, “You should be happy to have a job.” Then, they lay people off and hand the survivors more and more work.

The thing is, most creative and adaptive workers have already left. They have connectivity, the ability to build a robust support system. They become skilled in fluidly connecting with others. Most of us are not born with creativity and adaptability. It is learnable and the skillsets build our confidence to deal with anything the world dishes out to our careers.

Think of a shrinking industry like a sinking ship. The longer we remain, the more exhausting it is to stay alive. Our lives become dominated by the problem, and we lose precious energy for positive change.

The new mindset begins with courage. This is the outlook that any action than can improve our lives is the action that we must take, regardless of whether we are frightened or not.

Find organizations that are growing rather than shrinking. Right now, we can find an abundance of examples. For example, technology companies continue to grow in the pandemic. These are the companies that are building the future.

Social entrepreneurism is the most exciting trend in business today. These are business leaders that solve world problems by making the solution wildly profitable. What do social entrepreneurs do?

They make green energy profitable. Many are in the game of curing cancer, MS, diabetes, and yes, Coronavirus. Others are cleaning the environment, building revolutionary education (higher education without charging a dime), and thousands of other missions.

A new mindset can help us move beyond the pain of holding on. For the next few minutes, entertain the idea that technology isn’t taking your job, it is offering you freedom.

What do you want to do with your freedom?

There is nothing trivial about answering this question. In fact, we could not be more deadly serious.

The emerging workplace will not respond well to ambivalence.

Find the work that is meaningful to you, the work that makes this world better, the role that gives you a deep sense of purpose, the one that causes you to wake up enthused about the day ahead.

Pipe dreams? Oops. Cynicism and contempt have become our most effective weapons for killing personal change.

The need to find the work that you love and to learn how to make that financially successful will never be more urgent.

Besides, we need you.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2020, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Today’s Unexpected Career Tip appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

By the time that I read through the first six inches of today’s Facebook feed, I was feeling that it might just be better to go to bed and hide. And yet, I’ve got about 20 hours of work in front of me.

First 6 inches:

Bernie Sanders supporters, who were asked by Senator Sanders, to support Joe Biden, claim that Tara Reade, the serial grifter that has embezzled money for years, made claims against other men, and yet she doesn’t have one report to create a case. Another one brought up the claim that Uncle Joe has dementia. Now, I am not as old as Joe and he seems to be at least as cogent as me. In fact, his narrative to the Floyd family yesterday brought our home to tears. During the last almost 4 years, I have kept to myself that every time I have seen their savior, I think “early bird special and a pastrami on rye.”

We are still tearing our own people down?

How is that working out?

Next, I read a post about a new criminal breakout where our likeness, photos, personal information is being used to embezzle fortunes from others in our names. Has Tara Reade launched a franchise?

Between a pandemic, a President who is gassing protestors on the streets, and shelter-in-place, all of my terror is currently spoken for.

I’m at my friend limit on Facebook. I have ten times that amount on LinkedIn.

Can someone explain why I have not read any of these terrifying claims on LinkedIn?

Here, I learn how to solve problems, help other people, build effective relationships, grow my publishing reach, and contribute to the rapid change that is impacting so many of us. I’ve built some extraordinary partnerships, found amazing clients, and learned something new virtually every day.

Candidly, the narrative itself is what frightens me the most. On some days, the cynicism and contempt are so deep that I get frightened of my neighbors. What are they thinking? When will I get micro-chipped by the Gates? Lose everything I have by turning on the computer? Turn into a spittle-covered Zombie if I get a vaccine?

There is a small part of me that finds all of this unhinged crazy stuff sweeping across the country with amusement. After all, California began the whole idea that if you believe something, no matter how untrue that might be, you can go online and gather evidence that it is indeed, true. We’ve worked with a law firm for many years. They bring us in to deal with human capital breakdowns with their clients. For years, I’ve invited a partner to come to one of our work programs. Each time, she has been quite busy. Not long ago, I listened to her unavailability, began laughing and said, “You’re afraid that if you come to our program that you are going to give up your equity, leave the practice of law, and become a nude flute instructor at Esalen.”

She gasped. I hit that nail on the head.

For most of my adult life, I have been impacted by an awakening that occurred in my early 20s. On a profound level, I learned that whatever I give my attention to influences in what I become. I learned that if I listen to ongoing cynicism and contempt, that is what I become.

There is an old prayer that I use every day.

God, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

It still works for me.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2020, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post Hey Facebook! Is the Internet a Toilet? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.

“We learn nothing of value by studying dysfunction.”

He goes on to tell us that if we want a great love life, study people with long loving marriages. If we’re going to become successful in a particular industry, find someone at the top of that industry to help you.

Employee engagement continues to be one of the most frustrating problems in the world of work. The CEO tells human resources to fix the engagement problem. By the time the CEO hits the door, he or she has disengaged. The human resource executive announces, “We are fixing the engagement problem.” The employees look right past the H.R. executive to the CEO and they see business as usual.

Next, Human Resources issues an employee engagement survey, which only makes the managers feel more inadequate than ever. They are sent to a retreat returning with enthusiasm. The employees who were left out, shrug their shoulders. Unfortunately, human resources can now be blamed for a talent initiative that belonged to the CEO.

One of the more powerful ways to build engagement in an organization is to find the employees and leaders who personify engagement. Often, one person that has mastery in a particular area can teach us more in ten minutes than days with the “experts.”

In 1990, when we founded Inspired Work, I drove over to my bank with the articles of incorporation, proud to be opening my first business account. The “customer service” employee looked at the papers, frowned, looked up, and said, “I can’t help you. You didn’t bring another necessary paper.” Later in the day, I told my business manager about the experience, and he suggested that I move City National Bank. We have been there for 30 years.

Our branch is in Century City, and the manager for that branch is still there, always appreciated, generous, transparent, and kind. His business leads the bank with such issues as account sizes, customer loyalty, low turnover, and pride in their work.

The person that everyone ought to study was A.J.’s administrator, Jennifer. When I walked into the branch for the first time, she called out, “David? Are you David Harder?”

Jennifer had a kind of hearty enthusiasm that comes so naturally to Italians. She was a pretty brunette with kind sparkling eyes.

“Why would you know I’m David Harder?”

She let out a big laugh, “You’re the only person I don’t recognize!”

People like Jennifer treat the rest of us as their biggest assets.

After a few years of hard work and living hand-to-mouth, I decided to get a new BMW convertible. The financial paperwork was ready when I got there, and she was beaming ear-to-ear. I got a bit choked up and said, “Jennifer, you are the kindest person in the world. How do you do it?”

Her smile doubled in size, and she said, “It’s easy, David. You are my favorite customer.”

Later that week, I dropped by the branch for routine business. She called out from her desk, “Did you get it?”

“It’s outside!” I called back.

“Can I get a ride in it? Can you put the roof down?”

So, I took Jennifer in about a ten-block circle with the roof down, and the stereo cranked up. She kept putting her hands in the rushing air and letting out glee and laughter.

A few days later, I had a routine visit to the branch. Something was wrong. Everything seemed off.

“What’s going on?” I asked everyone.

“Jennifer passed away last night.” She had a heart attack.” She was only in her 40s.

They held the burial service at Hillside Cemetery in Culver City. It is a grand place behind massive gates, and it often becomes the final resting place for many of the city’s elite. I followed all the cars in and suddenly realized there were about 300 people. Most of them were clients.

A group of us began telling each other Jennifer vignettes. One closed his story with the words, “I was her favorite client.”

I interrupted, “No, no, no! She told me that I was her favorite client!

We looked into each other’s eyes and began laughing. Others chimed in and instead of undermining all of the goodwill she gave us, it only enhanced our respect for her. Because, when you were with her, there was no doubt. She cared for you with joy and enthusiasm.

When an organization has someone like Jennifer, they will do well to turn that bright light into a role model for everyone else. These are the role models that show us far more than doing a good job. These are the people who practice gratitude, kindness, courtesy, partnership, joy, heartbreak, whatever it is that we are going through, she found enormous joy when we shared that with her. She had made a commitment to lead the biggest life possible.

We cannot think our way into employee engagement. But a role model such as this remarkable woman, can give everyone else the benefits of gratitude, interest, learning, and turning life into all of its possibilities while others, in similar roles think, “It’s just a job.”

I will always remember her in that car. Hands raised in the wind, hair blowing and laughter, laughter so full-bodied that she celebrated with one client so thoroughly, I will never forget it. She could do that with everyone.

I miss her.

Brought to you by David Harder, President – Inspired Work, Inc.

Schedule 15-Minutes to Discuss Your Workplace or Career with David (Here)

(C) Copyright, 2020, Inspired Work, Inc. – (All Rights Reserved)

The post How Did All Of Us Become Her Favorite Client? appeared first on Inspired Work Services.