Hi Friend
I know my friend Rich is going to roll his eyes, but honestly THIS.WAS.AN.AMAZING.WEEK! I left on Sunday and on this beautiful Saturday morning as I sit here to write you, I’m still not back home yet. I started in Tallahassee, moved on to Sea Island, then up to the Wisconsin Dells then over to Minneapolis. Every single gathering went better than expected.
However, it’s not the events themselves but the people. Again, knowing I may sound like I’m overly exaggerating, THE PEOPLE I spent time with this week filled my life with such joy, fun, affirmation and friendship. They were all very different and yet I found myself feeling very much a part of their world while I was there.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m wired to fulfill my calling in this manner that I embed so quickly onto a team which perpetuates positivity in my soul? I sense a genuine connection with the leaders I work with which causes them to feel like true friends. It could all just be in my mind. That would be fine.
It makes me want to do a great job. Who wants to let down a friend? I suspect it’s birthed out of my perspective that I talk about: People like people who like them. I actually do like everyone I meet, right off the bat. Of course, once you spend time with people you can start liking them less! Overall that philosophy serves me well.
Who do you like?
I’m going to bring up my biz coach again, because he has given me some new ways of thinking. He has a 20 point “Client Fit” worksheet that we use to generate attributes to informs us if someone will be a good, bad, right, wrong, perfect, horrible fit. It’s structured in three sections: Target, Tangible & Intangible. I told him prior to this I only had one criteria: Will You Hire Me To Speak? If so, you’re a fit!
The intangible section is the easiest and hardest. I know what I hope to find in people within an organization, but sometimes it’s not clearly evident from a call or zoom. Isn’t that true of all our relationships, we’ve got to travel a bit of road together before we discover what’s really inside someone. Though I think intentional questions can accelerate the discovery rather quickly. Do you have any filters for the relationships in your life?
In Georgia, I had a car service pick me up at the tiny Brunswick airport. We were chatting about the long hours of some of his days, the challenges, what he enjoyed, etc. He asked about mine and we discussed airport adversity, hotel difficulties and all the fun I get to have doing what I do. Then this phrase popped out of my mouth:
The Perk is the Work.
I loved it immediately. So did he, because he loves his job too. I said it again and again. Say it again yourself: The Perk is the Work. I tend to think in terms of an investor, so I regularly consider the return on my time, energy and resources. We think of a perk as a peripheral benefit. Attaching it to the primary effort – no extra’s or results required – just doing what we do, IS THE BONUS! Come on, that’s a mental shift that lifts!
I’m going to incorporate that little phrase into my morning routine. I invite you to do the same and see how it sets our minds up to respond to difficult situations throughout the day, as if they were given to us as a dividend.
Instigating Ideas
1. Make a short list of the people you really like and five of their qualities.
2. What characteristics about yourself serve you best to live out your purpose?
3. Tell someone this week that you like them.
4. What if you viewed your day job as your dream job?
Over the last decade or so, there have been lots of efforts, articles and attempts to utilize perks as a tool to define an organizations culture. But as with everything else “extra” what really drives values, fulfillment and meaning is centralized in the actual work. Equally important who we do that work with!
For me, without a doubt, a large part of the perk of my work is the people I get to partner alongside. Instead of thinking “yeah, the people I work with are duds”… what if we thought “Am I a perk to work with? When my colleagues and team members interact with me, do I make their day and life more enjoyable?” It’s a reciprocated action.
Be the Perk!
I would love to hear how you incorporate new relationships in your life, whether personally or professionally. Do you have good intuition, particular traits you notice or a filtering tool? Please Share!